18 Jan 2019 – 17 Mar 2019
VB Photographic Center publishes a combination exhibition which consists of pictures from the early years of photographer Seppo Saves (1940-2013) and the young photographer KENBAM’s (b. 1981) two photo collections. Saves’s pictures the the story of his trip to New Guinea in 1962, which is the second largest island in the world, and and what he experienced there amongst the people who live there. The exhibit focuses on a young photographer’s own glimpse into a new culture for him and into the daily activities of the people living in that ulture before that culture possibly dies off under the influce of the Western countries. In the exhibit especially the local populations joys and sorrows and their own customs and habitual lives are brought up.The exhibit highlights this particular learning experience and on the other hand how vulnerable small peoples’ cultures are in the modern world.
KENBAM’s (Kenneth Bamberg) pictures in the exhibition have been gathered from his series Lions Among Us and Flowers. They, too, are overviews into different cultures and their customs. Lions Among Us portrays African kings at a significant transitioning period in their lives. KENBAM has photographed the new kings right after they’ve completed the rituals to assume their positions. A special interst has been how the kings decide to present themselves to the photographer; which egalia, ornaments and symbols he wants to be brought forward in the pictures. Flowers is also a portrayal of a transitional phase; it is a collection of portraits of boys belonging to the Shan tribe which lives in northern Thailand during their rite of pasage as they take one step closer to adulthood. The ritual is called “Poi Sang Long”, in which the boys are dressed in bright colors and made up. The goal is to imitate the young Prince Siddhartha before he became lord Buddha.
The exhibition is a unique glimpseto both foregin cultures as well as people’s transitional periods. Saves’s pictures tell the tale of New Guinea’s culture over 50 years ago. As the influence of the Western coutnries continues, the pictures are a time capsule to what has been and on the other hand a comparison point to what still remains. Things have changed. KENBAUM’s pictures present more personal rites of passage, but with the small cultures being under continuous pressure, we can’t know how long these rits of passage will continue to exist. Not everyone completes the Poi Sang Long rituals already now. On the other hand the pictures are also the common exhibition of two young men from two from different time periods that compare and contrast with each other and their own time in a special way.
