Exhibition -On the move

Storytelling in Contemporary Photography and Graphic Design.

The Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam presents the exhibition On the Move: Storytelling in Contemporary Photography and Graphic Design. It is the latest edition of the Proposals for Municipal Art Acquisitions that the museum organizes every two years, with the financial support of the City of Amsterdam. The selection of acquisitions from this exhibition always comprises an important addition to the holdings of the museum.

The photo essay and the photo book are both classic ways of telling stories through photographs. But photographers are increasingly exploring new ways of storytelling made possible by technological advances. Apps, audiovisual installations, and websites present opportunities for less linear forms of narrative. This development also reflects in graphic design. The role of the graphic designer is no longer confined to “choosing the image sequence” of a photo book.

On the Move focuses on recent developments in photography and reveals the myriad ways in which artists and photographers build their narratives in dialogue with graphic designers. The title On the Move refers to the journeys taken by many of the photographers in creating their projects, as well as the new directions in photography.

Last autumn, the Stedelijk invited artists living and/or working in the Netherlands to submit work in which they explore new, playful, critical, and challenging forms of narrativity. The museum received 471 submissions. 

A jury selected 28 submissions from young and emerging artists among which also that of Ahmet Polat. The selected works include both existing projects and works never previously exhibited, which are currently being developed especially for the exhibition.