Admission deadline for participating photographers pushed to the 9th of August
The admission deadline for the International Photographic Exhibition Gjon Mili which is organized yearly in Kosovo has been delayed to admit new competitors. The number of photographers having so far manifested interest has not been satisfactory, reports the local press in Kosovo and in Albania (Express 25.07.2009, Standard 28.07.2009).
The admission deadline was pushed from the 25th of July to the 9th of August 2009, reports the press. The theme of this year’s competition is “Insane, our world”. The curator is Samir Karahoda. Artistic or documentary photos relating to the theme will be admitted. Competing photographers should compete with a photographic series made up of three to five photos. The selected works will be exhibited in the International Exhibition of Photography Gjon Mili at the Gallery of Arts of Kosovo. The selected competitors will be notified by mid August (Standard quotes the 15th of August). The exhibition Gjon Mili 2009 is expected to be held in the first week of September.
This is the 9th edition of the International Photographic Exhibition. The first edition was held in September 2001. Nearly 3500 photographers have participated and nearly 710 have been selected to exhibit in the eight former editions of this International Photographic Exhibition.
In the former editions, a number of Balkan and northern-European artists have participated besides artists from Kosovo. In the current edition, the number of foreign participants is reported to have reached 20 so far, while there is yet no data of the number of participating photographers from Albania.
As in the former editions, the Gjon Mili 2009 exhibition will be held at the Gallery of Arts of Kosovo (Galeria e Arteve e Kosov쳬 GAK). The Gallery of Arts of Kosovo was founded in 1979 and claims to have organized over 600 national and international exhibitions since its foundation, being thus not only an important art center in Kosovo, but also an important art center in the Balkans.
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The International Photographic Exhibition held yearly at the Gallery of Arts of Kosovo takes its name after Gjon Mili, a renowned photographer of Albanian origin. Gjon Mili (1904-1984) was born in the region of Kor諬 south east of Albania and migrated to the USA in 1923. He was reputed to be a pioneer in developing instruments and techniques for capturing movement. He was a photographer for Life magazine and Hollywood studios and gained a reputation for the technical and artistic quality of his photos. Gjon Mili became world-famous for his portrait of Picasso drawing in the air before the eyes of the photographer. This is one of the most famous photos of the 20th century. To capture the image drawn by Picasso drawing in the air he stood slightly higher than the painter, used slow aperture speed and other technical skills and furnished the celebrated painter with a lighted-coal in his hand.
