The documentary photography festival DOCfield Barcelona lands in the Historical Building
One more year, the University of Barcelona repeats as one of the headquarters of the documentary photography festival DOCfield Barcelona, which reaches its sixth edition this year. From November 8 to December 9, the Historical Building will hold two exhibitions of this fest. Pati de Lletres will show the exhibition of the official section “Beneït és el fruit: la guerra sagrada als ventres irlandesos” by Olivia Harris, who explores the consequences of abortion law in Ireland, one of the most restricting ones in the world, which was abolished in May 2018. Also, the Pati de Ciències will show, in collaboration with the Photogenic Festival, “De lʼombra a la llum”, an exhibition of portraits by Maria Espeus, to women who suffered gender violence. On Friday, November 9, there will be guided tours in both exhibitions, by the authors.
One more year, the University of Barcelona repeats as one of the headquarters of the documentary photography festival DOCfield Barcelona, which reaches its sixth edition this year. From November 8 to December 9, the Historical Building will hold two exhibitions of this fest. Pati de Lletres will show the exhibition of the official section “Beneït és el fruit: la guerra sagrada als ventres irlandesos” by Olivia Harris, who explores the consequences of abortion law in Ireland, one of the most restricting ones in the world, which was abolished in May 2018. Also, the Pati de Ciències will show, in collaboration with the Photogenic Festival, “De lʼombra a la llum”, an exhibition of portraits by Maria Espeus, to women who suffered gender violence. On Friday, November 9, there will be guided tours in both exhibitions, by the authors.
"Beneït és el fruit: la guerra sagrada als ventres irlandesos" is the title of the exhibition in Pati de Lletres. Each year, three thousand Irish women go to the United Kingdom to abort. The controversial eight amendment of the Irish constitution gives the fetus the same right to life than to the mother since the moment it is conceived, which means abortion is not legal under any circumstance. In 2012, the death of Savita Halappanavar caused by doctors refusing to interrupt her pregnancy, moved Ireland and a new awareness rose to make a referendum on whether to derogate abortion law. This fight was not only about women taking control of their bodies but to change their role in this Catholic and traditional country. On May 25, 2018, the country voted in favour of derogating abortion law.
The author of this exhibition, Olivia Harris, will give a guided tour on Friday, November 9, at 12 noon. Harris, awarded with the PDN and Press Photographers Year awards, has worked for Reuters, Buzzfeed, Channel 4 and The Times of London, among others, covering topics such as religious extremism in Malaysia, the Nepal earthquake, the Rohingya refugee crisis, London teenage mothers, and the British Olympics. The activity, free of charge and open to everyone, will be carried out in English.
At the same time, the Pati de Ciències will show “De lʼombra a la llum”, a categorical report on violence against women, through the victims who suffered in first person. This exhibition by the Setba Foundation is a collaboration between DOCfield Barcelona and Photogenic Festival. The exhibition is built by fifteen black and white portraits, taken by Maria Espeus, Cultura CoNCA 2017 prize, of women who have been victims of chauvinist violence, and fifteen color photographs taken by five of the photographed women: Núria Casasús, Sylvia CR, Lia Mestre, Maribel Palma and Maria Mercè Valls. On Friday, November 9, at 13, there will be a guided tour, by Maria Espeus. This activity is also free and open to the general audience.
DOCfield Barcelona 2018, a reflection on love
The DOCfield Barcelona festival is organized by the Photographic Social Vision Foundation, a non-profit entity committed to share the social value of photo-journalism, in collaboration with Sabadell Bank Foundation and EGM Laboratory, as technological partner. Over a month, the festival turns Barcelona into the international referrence of documentary photography and visual journalism.
This sixth edition of DOCfield revolves around love, to explore and research on the relationships and the origin of bonds between people and communities, affection as a condition and its effects. The program of this festival covers the work of more than a hundred documentary photographers and national and international photo-journalists, gathered in thirty free exhibitions in different art centers, galleries, civic centers, photography schools and other cultural spaces of the city.
More information in DOCfield Barcelona 2018