"Preserve or fictionalize the archive"
"Processes and Displacements in Contemporary Photographic Practice" was led by architect and artist Vivian Galban.
In this masterclass, broadcast live on Thursday, October 9, participants explored how the archive —in both public and private dynamics— could shift from its origin to generate meaning within photographic work. Through a series of case studies, the session analyzed the differences between archives and image banks in analog and digital formats, as well as the mechanisms of recontextualization within various artistic production processes, whether to resignify or to highlight.
The discussion also addressed the implications and tensions related to image usage rights and the circulation of artworks.
The starting point was the Picture Collection of the New York Public Library, an archive that has enabled multiple interpretations around access, memory, and contemporary creation.
This initiative was promoted by Pinta BAphoto in collaboration with Zurich.
Zurich, Local Lead Partner of Pinta BAphoto, reaffirms its commitment to the fair by continuously supporting the country’s art and culture, understood as fundamental pillars for the care and well-being of people.
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).