Record number of visitors at the open-air Photo Festival in La Gacilly-Baden near Vienna – photo art and garden art melt into a carbon-neutral visitor magnet
The final day of the Photo Festival in Baden, on 16 October 22, broke all previous records. In weather fit for a kaiser, a total of 9,865 photo aficionados flooded the small streets and gardens of the World Heritage town. This resulted in an increase of 31% in the number of visitors in Baden alone compared to the year before.
All together, 485,277 visitors came to the La Gacilly-Baden Photo Festival and its exhibition partners in Tulln and Celje. While 103,207 guests came to Tulln, the exhibition in Celje, themed upon the topic of ‘Peace’, attracted 142,000 photography fans. Adding the 300,000 visitors of La Gacilly in Brittany makes the cooperation between the festivals La Gacilly and Baden, with almost 800,000 visitors, by far the largest open-air photography exhibition in Europe.
“My deepest respect and compliments for your incredible multimedia cultural work with regard to both the art on display and organization of the event, currently in two respects: the Festival La Gacilly-Baden and the grand opening with peace photos in Celje, presenting an artistic, and utterly humane countercurrent to war, violence and pandemics. Chapeau!,” is roughly how Jutta Kleedorfer, an enthusiastic visitor, comments on the festival in 2022.
“With the title DUE NORTH!, our photo festival has highlighted the creative power of photo artists from Northern Europe who, since the beginnings of photography, have maintained an almost carnal connection with the ruggedness of their homeland. With their different photographic approaches, the exhibiting photographers share a vision mixed with poetry, occasionally with a touch of surrealism, but always intent on raising awareness for a better understanding of tomorrow’s world. In their own way, they are the artistic guardians of a positive civilisation.” says the festival team.
“In the second narrative of the festival, two exceptional photographers shed light on the state of our environment: ‘This empty World’ by Nick Brandt is an impressive illustration of a world in which there is barely room for animals to survive, overwhelmed by rampant human development.
And Mathias Depardon shows with ‘The Tears of the Tigris’ that the Garden of Eden exists – and is in danger. Located at the confluence of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, the largest wetland ecosystem in Western Eurasia, which was added to the UNESCO World Heritage list in 2016, is now in danger of drying up.” the team continues.
The 2022 program was also marked by the works of female Austrian photographers: “We had the great honor of presenting three female Austrian photographers: a homage to the great Magnum photographer Inge Morath, a retrospective of the doyenne of Austrian photography Christine de Grancy and the surprising work ‘Camping’ by Verena Andrea Prenner.
“And for the first time, the festival has also awarded a photography commission to Gregor Schörg, only 21-years-old, who used drone photography to portray winter in the Dürrenstein-Lassingtal wilderness area, the first UNESCO World Natural Heritage site in Austria, a work that is just as much a part of the ‘100 Years of Lower Austria’ theme as the photographs of Lower Austrian professional photographers who paid tribute to the beauty of the state of Lower Austria with their images.” Lois Lammerhuber, Director of Festival La Gacilly-Baden Photo, is thrilled to tell us.
An exhibition with the winning photos from CEWE’s ‘Our World is Beautiful’, the world’s largest photo competition with 606,289 photos from 170 countries, made the festival complete.
“Cultural tourism has a long tradition in Baden and inspires visitors with special highlights year after year. As part of ‘100 Years of Lower Austria’, this year’s La Gacilly-Baden Photo Festival also dealt with the history of our beautiful state: With the exhibitions ‘Lower Austria in old picture postcards’ and ‘Wilderness area Dürrenstein-Lassingtal’, the organizers succeeded in paying a very special tribute to Lower Austria.” Governor Johanna Mikl-Leitner tells us.
“The La Gacilly-Baden Photo Festival has become the cultural fixture of the year and attracts many guests to the region every year! Besides the impressive outdoor photo gallery that has just ended, there is much more for visitors to discover in Baden. A short trip or vacation is always worthwhile – even in winter!” Jochen Danninger, Tourism Provincial Councillor.
These comments are also underscored by the presence of 106 domestic and international media which celebrated the 183rd birthday of photography in Baden on 19 August, 2022, during the Long Night of Photography, including ORF, MARKIZA TV, RTL, SAT1, VOX, FAZ, GEO, STERN, NZZ, FIGARO, etc.
“Five years ago, with the La Gacilly-Baden Photo Festival, the city of Baden began to embed photographic art in the public space and to make top international photography accessible in an attractive setting. The concept has been a success – a quarter of a million visitors in 2022 clearly prove that the enthusiasm for the fascination of photography remains unbroken even after five years. Which is why I am already looking forward to the next photo festival, taking place in Baden from 15 June to 15 October 2023, and dedicated to the countries Bangladesh, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iran under the title ORIENT!” says Stefan Szirucsek, Mayor of the City of Baden.
Klaus Lorenz, Tourism Director of the City of Baden: “With the festival, Baden becomes one of THE cultural hotspots in Austria. The international art of photography combines with the wonderful garden landscapes and the World Heritage architecture to create a unique synthesis of the arts. For me personally, it is a great pleasure to observe the enthusiasm of the visitors and the lively discussions in front of the photo galleries throughout our city.”
“Hardly a better place could have been chosen to present an international photo festival of the highest order. An excellent selection of the best photographers makes it possible to view the entire spectrum of ‘life’. It takes your breath away to marvel at, absorb and internalize the dignity of the human being in its vulnerability. That is what photography can do. That is what this festival makes possible. A photo festival that has managed in a very short time to take a top position among the world’s photo festivals.” Andreas Eucker, STERN.
Garden Tulln Director Franz Gruber: “The photographic interventions in the Garden Tulln provided many exciting impetuses in the exhibition gardens. Without exception, the reactions of visitors were positive, some absolutely enthusiastic.”
For the first time, Celje in Slovenia participated as a festival partner. A large exhibition of 100 photographs themed upon the topic of ‘Peace’ was seen by 142,000 visitors. Thank you Igor Rosina for the great cooperation.
And this is what the visitors of the photo festival in Baden say or write:
“The articulation of everything – you’ve created such a friendly, human and joyful event. The personality of your festival is strong and quite unique. Bravo!” Charles D.
“I am very happy that I got the chance to see so many excellent photographs, listen to remarkable lectures and meet so many interesting people.” Michal S.
“On the last evening of the festival, photo enthusiasts even stood in front of the pictures with their mobile phone lights. Verena P.
“I have never been so proud to be a citizen of Baden.” Judith H.
Summing up, the festival’s Co-Director Silvia Lammerhuber says: “We are not only happy about the excellent number of visitors and their refreshing interest, but above all about the fact that we were able to convey the photographic and content-related messages of the exhibitions beyond Austria’s borders. As in previous years, a special edition of the exhibitions will be on show in Bratislava from 1 to 30 November, 2022, as part of the ‘Month of Photography’.”
Again in 2023, the La Gacilly-Baden Photo Festival will be dedicated to the relationship between humans and the environment, and invites visitors from 15 June through 15 October to Baden near Vienna under the title ‘ORIENT!’.
In 2018, Edition Lammerhuber initiated and organized the La Gacilly-Baden Photo Festival together with their cooperation partners in La Gacilly for the first time. The festival is the largest open-air photo festival in Europe and takes place each year from June through September in Baden near Vienna.
GoSee : festival-lagacilly-baden.photo & edition.lammerhuber.at
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09.11.2022