Photo Cashmyra Rozendaal
Grażyna Siedlecka and Marijn Bril to curate Noorderlicht Biennale PLAY! 2027
Noorderlicht announces that Grażyna Siedlecka and Marijn Bril will jointly curate Noorderlicht Biennale PLAY! 2027. Each drawing on their own background, they will explore what lens-based media can mean today in a digital world, with a playful and critical eye. The biennale will take place across three northern provinces of the Netherlands.
Marijn Bril (pictured right) is a curator and researcher in Rotterdam who explores how technology quietly shapes the way we work, think and share. She's interested in the systems behind our screens, the labour behind digital culture, and yes, memes as a serious form of knowledge. She loves formats that break the mould, like mixing sports matches with debates on digital culture. Marijn: "Noorderlicht has such a rich history in photography, and I’m excited to ask what lens-based media can be today, as images increasingly intersect with technology. Doing that together with Grażyna across three provinces in the North makes it even more exciting."
Grażyna Siedlecka (pictured left) is a curator and writer who asks who gets to be seen in photography, and how art can reach people beyond the usual circles. She looks for new ways for art to circulate and cares deeply about the ethics of curating. She also brings to the Biennial an experimental approach to curating. For PLAY!, they both bring playful and critical perspectives to lens-based media in a digital world. Grażyna: “Photography and related media are evolving in so many fascinating directions right now. I’m thrilled to play with the upcoming theme alongside a co-curator who brings such a sharp technological perspective! I have a fantastic feeling about this collaboration and can't wait to see where our joint energy takes us."
Roosje Klap, director of Noorderlicht: "Grażyna and Marijn are asking exactly the questions that matter right now. At a time when many people would rather retreat into their own world, we choose play. Playing is not an escape from reality. It is practising, trying things out, making up rules together and breaking them again. That is precisely what we need right now. With PLAY 2027, we invite everyone to join in."
Further information about the theme, venues and programme of Noorderlicht Biennale PLAY! 2027 will follow.
About Noorderlicht
Stichting Fotografie Noorderlicht in Groningen is an international platform for photography and lens-based media. Since 1980, Noorderlicht has presented photography as a socially engaged medium that offers a window on the world and contributes to public debate. What began as a photo gallery grew into an internationally renowned festival, first held in 1990. Since 2021, Noorderlicht has organised a biennale for photography and lens-based media across the three northern provinces of the Netherlands: Groningen, Friesland and Drenthe. Alongside the biennale, Noorderlicht runs a year-round programme of exhibitions, commissions, publications, education and public events, with its home base at the Akerkhof in Groningen. Noorderlicht works from an international perspective while remaining firmly rooted in the North of the Netherlands. Since 2024, Roosje Klap has been general and artistic director. / wwww.noorderlicht.com