This exhibition brings together a group of contemporary artists working with photography, film and new media to examine the past and its effect on the futures we build and create.

Through references to history, culture, and group identities, each artist comments on the world as they see it, allowing us to imagine alternative futures.

What does it mean to talk about history from an intimate and personal perspective? From confronting depictions of African American women referenced in Yétúndé’s self portraits to Tig Terera’s intimate travel portraits, the artists in this show speak to their inescapable link to history. The artists explore religious identity through virtual reality, familial nostalgia in film photos and the varied ways we exist here and now as products of what came before.

Be Here Now is curated by Atong Atem, an Ethiopian born, South Sudanese artist, curator and writer living in Narrm/ Melbourne. She works primarily with with photography and video to explore migrant narratives, postcolonial practices in the African diaspora and the exploration of identity through portraiture.

Be Here Now is an official exhibition of PHOTO 2022 International Festival of Photography (photo.org.au), a major biennial of new photography and ideas taking place from 29 April to 22 May in Melbourne and regional Victoria. Responding to the theme ‘Being Human’, PHOTO 2022 explores the role photography plays in understanding the contemporary human condition. PHOTO 2022 is produced by Photo Australia in collaboration with cultural institutions, museums and galleries, and education, industry and government partners.

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