2024 WOPHA Congress: How Photography Teaches Us to Live Now

WOPHA / 05.23.2024

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Women Photographers International Archive (WOPHA) and Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM) present the 2024 WOPHA Congress, titled “How Photography Teaches Us to Live Now”

A photography masterclass in four days: Worldwide organizations, internationally-recognized art historians, educators, and women photographers will convene in South Florida to unveil and interpret the dynamic history and contributions of women photographers from the 19th century into the present, and transform the way we think about photography education.

October 23-26, 2024
Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM) and various locations across South Florida
Pre-Register Now
Press Release

(Miami, Florida, May 23, 2024)—Women Photographers International Archive (WOPHA), in partnership with Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM), announces today highlights of the 2024 WOPHA Congress—a groundbreaking photography conference, exhibition series, and creative convening, taking place across South Florida. The second edition of the Congress, titled “How Photography Teaches Us to Live Now,” presents the indelible contribution of women and non-binary photographers in contemporary art, and explores the diverse ways we engage with photography in daily life, how we interpret those images, and how we can pioneer new approaches to foster photography education.

Building upon the inclusive practices in photography, research, and cultural production explored in its inaugural edition—which featured dozens of speakers and presenters, hundreds of artists and participants, and millions of global media impressions—this year’s Congress seeks to disrupt the teacher-student hierarchy with a participatory learning environment including photowalks, group portfolio review sessions, exhibitions, workshops, fireside chats, and panel discussions. Artists, educators, worldwide organizations, and photography enthusiasts will join WOPHA and its partners at sites across South Florida, including PAMM, Norton Museum of Art, HistoryMiami Museum, Miami-Dade Public Library System (Main Library), Miami International Airport, Girls’ Club, and many more, with select modules available virtually as well. The events are free and open to all.

The four-day creative gathering is conceptualized by WOPHA Founder and Director, Latinx art historian, and curator Aldeide Delgado. “Despite the fact that 75% of photography students around the world are women, there remains a glaring absence of academic programs specifically addressing the history of women in photography,” says Delgado. “The 2024 WOPHA Congress confronts this disparity and initiates discussions about women, photography, and pedagogy as a foundational step towards the establishment of a dedicated educational institution for the study of photographic practices, criticism, and historiography. We are also responding to the crisis in photography education demonstrated by enrollment drops over the last several years and a renewed interest in alternative and experimental teaching methods.”

Over thirty internationally-recognized scholars and artists from around the world will participate in the four-day event, including Andrea Jösch Krotki, Director of Escuela de Arte at Universidad Diego Portales; Susan Meiselas, documentary photographer and President of the Magnum Foundation; Carmen Winant, writer and visual artist; Carol Damian, Professor Emeritus of Art History at Florida International University; Leigh Raiford, Professor of African American Studies at the University of California at Berkeley; Muriel Hasbun, artist and educator, Roshini Kempadoo, photographer, media artist, and scholar, Hiền Hoàng, interdisciplinary artist, and many others.

Among the many topics discussed are the role of collaboration in photography and archival practices, the relevance of the Caribbean in photography history, and current photographic debates around materiality, ecology, and climate change.

While the Congress will advance WOPHA’s wider global mission, it also aims to highlight South Florida’s emergence as a major center for contemporary photography, fueled by its dynamic cultural landscape, diverse population, and strategic geographic location. The 2024 WOPHA Congress contributes to South Florida’s ongoing artistic renaissance and its growing reputation as a global destination for the arts by establishing the region as an international center and meeting place for modern and contemporary photography and critical conversations around the role of women in photography.

Another highlight of this year’s Congress is the launch of the WOPHA Institute—the first dedicated institution that offers conferences, educational courses, and experimental workshops led by renowned experts in the field of photography to establish an academic program that challenges patriarchal norms and amplifies the voices of women and non-binary photographers.

Partnerships with leading South Florida-based and international arts and photography organizations including PAMM’s Caribbean Cultural Institute, Green Space Miami, El Espacio 23, The Betsy Hotel, Girls’ Club, Norton Museum of Art, Miami International Airport, Contemporary And, and Rencontres Photographiques de Guyana are expanding WOPHA’s local and global footprint. These partners will facilitate a vibrant and collaborative program of photography exhibitions, artist residencies and studio visits as part of the 2024 Congress.

Additionally, please mark your calendars for our 2024 WOPHA Congress Media and Partner Summer Preview, where we’ll be unveiling themes and discussions in advance of the 2024 WOPHA Congress. The event will take place from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm on June 26th at The Betsy Hotel in Miami Beach. A formal invitation for this summer’s event will follow.

The 2024 WOPHA Congress is co-presented by Women Photographers International Archive (WOPHA) and Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM), and organized by the WOPHA team: Aldeide Delgado, Francisco Maso, Co-Founder and Creative Director, and Amanda Bradley, Associate Curator of Programming.

Lead support is provided by the National Endowment for the Arts, Bechily – Hodes Family Foundation and The Jorge M. Pérez Family Foundation at The Miami Foundation.

JW Marriott Marquis Miami and JW Marriott Miami are the Official Hotel Partner.

Major support is provided by Green Family Foundation and Miami Downtown Development Authority.

Additional support is provided by One Sotheby’s International Realty, Florida Department of State, the Division of Art and Culture, and the National Endowment for the Arts, the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs, the Cultural Affairs Council, and the Miami-Dade County Mayor and Board of County Commissioners.

Cultural Partners include HistoryMiami Museum, Norton Museum of Art, 10×10 Photobooks, The Betsy Hotel, El Espacio 23, Green Space Miami, Girls’ Club, Leica Store Miami, Miami-Dade Public Library System (Main Library), Miami-Dade Art In Public Places, Miami International Airport, and Palm Film Lab.

In-kind media support is provided by Centro Cultural Español Miami, CREO / Sony World Photography Awards, and Contemporary And.

About WOPHA
Women Photographers International Archive (WOPHA) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded to research, promote, support, and educate on the contributions of women and non-binary photographers to modern and contemporary art in order to rewrite the artistic canon and provoke social change. WOPHA fosters a more diverse and equitable world by providing a permanent archive for future generations that preserves, documents, and promotes women photographers’ work while being a driving force for innovative thinking and discussion about the role of women in photographic arts.

About Aldeide Delgado
Aldeide Delgado is a Cuban-born, Miami-based independent Latinx art historian and curator, founder & director of Women Photographers International Archive (WOPHA). She has eight years of experience writing, curating, and presenting at art history forums centered around photography, including lectures at institutions such as the Tate Modern, The Clark Institute, the University of Pennsylvania, Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM), DePaul Art Museum, King’s College London, California Institute of the Arts (CalArts), and The New School. Delgado is a recipient of the 2023 Ellies Creator Award, 2019 Knight Arts Challenge award, the 2018 School of Art Criticism Fellowship by SAPS – La Tallera, and the 2017 Research and Production of Critic Essay Fellowship by TEOR/éTica. Delgado conceptualized the world’s first-ever feminist photography collective conference, WOPHA Congress: Women, Photography, and Feminisms (November 17-20, 2021). She publishes and curates from feminist and decolonial perspectives on crucial topics of the history of photography and abstraction within Latin American, Caribbean, and Latinx contexts. She is also the author of “Becoming Sisters: Women Photography Collectives & Organizations” (2021). Prior to founding WOPHA, Delgado created the online feminist archive Catalog of Cuban Women Photographers, the first comprehensive survey of Cuban photography history highlighting women’s contributions from the nineteenth century to the present. She is an active member of PAMM’s International Women’s Committee and PAMM’s Latin American and Latinx Art Fund, US Latinx Art Forum, the Lucie Foundation Advisory Board, and the steering committees of the Feminist Art Coalition and Fast Forward: Women in Photography. Currently, she is pursuing an MA in Liberal Studies at Rutgers University.

About Pérez Art Museum Miami
Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM), led by Director Franklin Sirmans, promotes artistic expression and the exchange of ideas, advancing public knowledge and appreciation of art, architecture, and design, and reflecting the diverse community of its pivotal geographic location at the crossroads of the Americas. The 40-year-old South Florida institution, formerly known as Miami Art Museum (MAM), opened a new building, designed by world-renowned architects Herzog & de Meuron, on December 4, 2013, in Downtown Miami’s Maurice A. Ferré Park. The facility is a state-of-the-art model for sustainable museum design and progressive programming and features 200,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor program space with flexible galleries; shaded outdoor verandas; a waterfront restaurant and bar; a museum shop; and an education center with a library, media lab, and classroom spaces.

JW Marriott Marquis Miami and JW Marriott Miami
The JW Marriott Marquis Miami is situated in the heart of Metropolitan Miami development in Downtown. The first-to-market JW Marriott Marquis property boasts 313 guestrooms, inclusive of 56 suites, along with a broad array of amenities, including renowned chef-restaurateur, Daniel Boulud’s Mediterranean gem, Boulud Sud. Offering a diverse setting for business, meeting, and pleasure travel pursuits, the 41-story hotel features three concierge levels; 80,000-square-feet of total function space including a 20,000 sq. ft. Grand Ballroom; and one of the most unique indoor sports, lifestyle, and entertainment complexes of any hotel in the U.S. The 50,000-square-foot, two-story indoor facility includes an NBA-approved basketball arena, tennis court, Mariano Bartolome Golf School, virtual bowling alley, billiards, full-service Enliven spa and salon, and more. Owned and operated by Met 2 Hotels LLC, the JW Marriott Marquis Miami is located at 255 Biscayne Boulevard Way, Miami, FL.

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