Brussels | Foam Talent Symposium
Within the framework of the Foam Talent exhibition at Brussels, Foam organises a symposium with key figures in the Belgian field of photography and contemporary art to discuss the scouting and presentation of young photography talent in the Lowlands.

By means of Foam Magazine’s annual Talent Call and its forthcoming exhibition, Foam not only presents its views on the current state of photography, but also creates a platform that introduces emerging talents in the international world of photography. The symposium will zoom in on the flourishing cultural scene in Brussels and the particular field of Belgium and Dutch photography.

What are the platforms and means of stimulating emerging photographers from the Lowlands within an international context? How are young visual artist being picked up and promoted in Belgium? Are there particular trends to signalize within this upcoming generation of photographers? And is the Dutch/Flemish field a common ground for talents, or are there in fact many differences to take into account?

Foam will go into a conversation with stakeholders from Belgium institutions, galleries, art academies and news media such as Joachim Naudts (curator at FOMU), Jan Desloover (chief picture editor at De Standaard), Dirk Snauwaert (artistic director of WIELS) and photographers among which Max Pinckers (Magnum Photos) and Sébastien Van Malleghem.


17.30 Welcome

17.35 – 18.10 Panel discussion with Dirk Snauwaert (artistic director at WIELS), Joachim Naudts (curator at FOMU), Thierry Vandenbussche (art manager at stilll gallery) and Maarten Vanvolsem (artist and teacher at LUCA School of Arts), moderated by Marcel Feil (Deputy-Director Artistic Affairs at Foam)

18.10 – 18.25 Artist Talk by Jan Rosseel (one of the Foam Talents of 2014)      

18.25 – 19.00 Panel discussion with Jan Desloover (chief picture editor at De Standaard), Inge Henneman (freelance curator and publicist, researcher and teacher at Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp) and photographers Max Pinckers and Sébastien Van Malleghem, moderated by Kaat Celis (Managing Director at Sluitertijd)

19.00 – 20.00 Drinks in the Foam Talent exhibition space


This symposium and exhibition are part of the BesteBuren festive year and are realized in cooperation with BesteBuren, Vlaams-Nederlands Huis deBuren, Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to Belgium, the Flemish Government – Coordination Brussels and Arts & Design Program EU2016 Europe by People.

Foam Talent is made possible through the support of Kleurgamma Fine-Art Photolab. The annual Foam Magazine Talent Issue and the related Talent Program is supported by the Niemeijer Fund.

Foam is sponsored by the BankGiro Loterij, De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek, City of Amsterdam, Delta Lloyd, Olympus and the VandenEnde Foundation.

Foam Magazine is an international photography magazine, published three times a year by Foam Amsterdam and branding agency Vandejong and distributed worldwide by Frame Publishers. Foam Magazine is sponsored by Igepa Netherlands BV and Hexspoor webshop support.

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Brussels | Foam Talent Symposium