PROGRAM Olivie 9 september -11 october 2010 REAL ART Сurators: Bogdan Mamonov, Sergey Popov Vladimir Salnikov, Nina Kotel, Bogdan Mamonov, Sasha Leech, Boris Smelov, Nikolay Kasatkin, Ivan Lukinyh, Olga Chernyshova, Sasha Sokolov, Tasia Korotkova, Alexander Pogorgelsky, Katya Rogkova. Gruntovka 9-20 september 2010 GOLDEN POT Petr Maslov Curator - Bogdan Mamonov   16-26 june 2006 Ivar Svestinsh.GLOBAL PHOTO PROJECT - МОСКВА THE FACE The face tells its story: of laughter, worry, hope and fear. It's a landscape, a map of our experiences. Each face expresses its personal fate and is, at the same time the face of mankind. From the instant of birth we inevitably age. This process unites all living beings and transcends the limitations of race, religion, nationality and language. The Global Photo Project acknowledges life’s transience as a fundamental human condition that can give everyday life meaning, a necessity for human growth. I want to contribute to a heightened feeling for life and an increased empathy for all those who share this time on earth. With these pictures my desire is to touch what is eternal and immortal within us. The project is the process of meetings: from the first contact to the exhibited photographs and extending to the resulting dialogues, debates, seminars and workshops. An important part of the project is thus to present the exhibitions not only in public sites, such as streets, parks, galleries, museums and railway-stations, but also to bring these portraits into unconventional arenas and office spaces, where people work, who in some way may affect the living conditions of those who are portrayed. BACKGROUND The Global Photo Project is a development from a project performed in 1997 in Södertälje, Sweden. I photographed 168 people; the youngest was a newborn baby, the next youngest was six months old, the next was one, then one and a half, two etc. The oldest person was 103 years old. Black-and-white pictures, close up, no make-up, no jewels, no gestures, poses or smiles. Naked faces. The enlargements are part of the permanent exhibition on Health and the Body at the Science Centre "Tom Tit's Experiment" in, hung like a string of pearls around one of the large exhibition halls. SO FAR... In co-operation with humanitarian organizations, hospitals, schools, museums etc. I'm presently creating a complementary work in 20 different countries around the earth. The number of people being photographed is proportional to the average life expectancy in each country, one photograph for each year of life. In other words, each location is represented by 40-80 people. Local exhibitions are produced and presented in each country. In 2002 the project in Russia was finalized in co-operation with the Swedish Embassy and the State Technical College in Moscow. Exhibitions 2006 are in planning phase. In 2003-2004 the Project in Thailand was accomplished in co-operation with the Swedish Embassy in Bangkok, the Swedish Institute, UNFPA, PPAT and the Chiangmai City Museum. In 2004, collaboration with UN in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, commenced. Other partners are the Swedish Honorary Consulate and the American University in Central Asia. WHAT´S NEXT... 2006-2007 Plans on realizing the project in Sweden, Israel/Palestine and the United States. Once the photographic work is complete, all the photographs will be assembled into one large exhibition. Each country will be represented by a horizontal age progression hung in such a way that if you follow them vertically, you will be looking at individuals of the same age in different parts of the world. This produces a very uneven right edge, indicating the radically different conditions governing life expectancy, with all the political and social questions this raises. The aim is first to present this global survey at the U.N. Headquarters in New York and then world-wide. A book, a documentary film as well as a TV- and Internet-version of this work is also planned. Ivar Sviestins, Stockholm, 2005-11-15