"Preserve or fictionalize the archive"
Processes and Displacements in Contemporary Photographic Practice, led by architect and artist Vivian Galban.
In this masterclass, we will explore how the archive —within both public and private dynamics— can be displaced from its origin to generate meaning in photographic work. Through case studies, we will analyze the differences between archives and image banks in analog and digital formats, as well as the mechanisms of recontextualization in different artistic production processes, whether to re-signify or to point out.
We will also consider the implications and tensions related to image usage rights and the circulation of artworks.
The starting point will be the Picture Collection of the New York Public Library, an archive that enables multiple readings around access, memory, and contemporary creation.
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Date: Thursday, October 9, 7 PM (ARG) | 6 PM (MIAMI)
Free activity with limited spots. Via Zoom.
To participate in the Zoom session, please complete the following form
For the seventh consecutive year and with the support of Zurich Argentina, the masterclass will be led by Vivian Galban, Argentine visual artist, photographer, and architect. Her work focuses on analog processes, performance, and experimental image devices, and has been exhibited at institutions and venues such as Paris Photo (FR), Fundación Lariviere (AR), Penumbra Foundation (NY), Centro Cultural San Martín, Usina del Arte, and MACBA – Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Buenos Aires. She is represented by Rolf Art in Argentina and Lala Contemporary in Canada.
Participants who complete the masterclass will be eligible to apply for a scholarship to Vivian Galban’s 2026 Photographic Practice Program.
This initiative is driven by Pinta BAphoto in collaboration with Zurich.
As Local Lead Partner of Pinta BAphoto, Zurich reaffirms its commitment to the fair by providing ongoing support to art and culture in Argentina, understood as fundamental pillars for people’s care and well-being.
Vivian Galban (1969, Argentina) lives and works in Buenos Aires.
Vivian Galban is an architect and artist specializing in contemporary photography. She is represented by Rolf Art Gallery in Buenos Aires and Lala Contemporary in Toronto. She studied architecture at the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism, University of Buenos Aires (1993), holds a postgraduate degree in Conservation and Rehabilitation of Architectural Heritage from the same institution (1996), and specialized in silvering techniques at the Penumbra Foundation, New York (2018).
Galban’s practice expands through the investigation of photography as a medium, questioning both photographic support and processes in contemporary practice. In her academic work, she engages with applied technology, and her roles as educator and architect form part of her artistic research. She has conducted workshops and seminars at Usina del Arte, Buenos Aires (2018), Centro de Fotografía, Montevideo (2017), Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Buenos Aires (MACBA) (2014–2016), and Centro Cultural Recoleta, Buenos Aires (2015).
She is currently the head of the Department of Aesthetics, Art, and Contemporary Culture at the Institute of Photographic Art and Audiovisual Techniques, National University of Avellaneda, Buenos Aires. In the early years of her career, she founded the first Interactive Multimedia Development Agency, MediaLab Argentina, based in Buenos Aires and Mexico City (1996–2010). She was also executive director of the first 3D Modeling and Design Center (1994–1996).
In 2021, she participated in the collective exhibition Rethink Everything, curated by Andrea Giunta, at Les Rencontres de la Photographie Festival, Arles. In 2019, she presented her solo exhibition Real Time Exhibition (2019–2020), curated by Alfredo Aracil and Leandro Villaro at Rolf Art Gallery, Buenos Aires. Other solo exhibitions include Valley of the Yosemite, from the Rocky Ford, 1872 at MACBA, curated by Teresa Riccardi (2016); No sabemos lo que puede hacer un cuerpo, curated by Valeria González at Rolf Art Gallery (2013–2014); Performance Tiempo Real at Paris Photo, France (2023); and Fundación Lariviere, curated by Raúl Flores (2024).