An brief introduction to the activities of The Photographers’ Gallery by Karen McQuaid Senior Curator.
Followed by a talk responding to the theme of the festival where McQuaid will present key moments from the the exhibition history of the gallery – established in 1971, that relate to state control, political oppression and acts of civil resistance, including Donovan Wylie, Rosângela Rennó and Li Zhensheng, until recent exhibitions by socially engaged and participative documentary practices, including Dana Lixenberg, Jim Goldberg and Zanela Muholi.
Karen McQuaid is Senior Curator at The Photographers’ Gallery, London. She has curated exhibitions including Jim Goldberg, Open See; Fiona Tan, Vox Populi, London; Andy Warhol, Photographs: 1976–1987; Lorenzo Vitturi, Dalston Anatomy and Rosângela Rennó, Río-Montevideo. She has co-curated Geraldo De Barros, What Remains with Isobel Whitelegg and Made You Look, Dandyism and Black Masculinity with Ekow Eshun. She inaugurated the FreshFacedandWildEyed graduate programme and is currently working on the Bar Tur First Book Award. Karen has curated external exhibitions at The Moscow House of Photography and The National Gallery of Kosovo. She regularly participates in international portfolio reviews, guest lectures across the UK, writes for international photography publications and edits artists’ books.