The International Photography Festival Vizualizator will take place from 18 November to 15 December across Belgrade, Pančevo, and Sombor, under the slogan Be Present. This year’s edition brings exhibitions by authors from seven countries, accompanied by a rich programme of workshops and panel discussions.
With the slogan of its 13th edition, VIZUALIZATOR poses a key question of contemporary visual culture: How long can we hold our attention and our gaze in a world where images appear, disappear, and reappear faster than we can understand them? The festival invites the audience to pause and be present—with their eyes and their minds—in front of the photograph, the artist, and the reality that surrounds us.
Global photography stars at the opening
The exhibition is presented with the support of the Czech Centre Belgrade.
Meinrad Schade
A panel discussion, From Evidence to Illusion: Media, Photography and the Production of Pseudo-Reality, will take place at 6 PM, preceding the official opening.
In a digital environment where “real” photographs are used to support false narratives, and artificial intelligence produces scenes that never existed, the question of photography’s role has become urgent and unavoidable for the entire journalistic profession. What does an editorial decision look like in the age of AI-generated images? Can photography still serve as evidence, or has it become a tool for constructing pseudo-reality?
Panelists include Dragan Jovićević, culture editor at Radar weekly; Prof. Dr Danka Ninković, Faculty of Political Sciences; Prof. Dr Aleksandra Kristić, Faculty of Political Sciences; Izabela Branković, Executive Director of the Association of Media; and Gordana Novaković, Secretary General of the Press Council.
The discussion will be moderated by Zvezdan Mančić, photographer, President of the Photography Development Centre, and Director of the VIZUALIZATOR Festival.
Helge Skodvin
A rich exhibition programme across three cities
During its month-long programme, VIZUALIZATOR presents works by leading international and local photographers on themes of presence, identity, and our relationship to pseudo-reality. Swiss photographer Meinrad Schade, one of the most prominent figures of contemporary Swiss photography, will present his monumental project War Without War, exploring how conflict leaves a lasting imprint on landscapes and the psychology of the people who inhabit them.
Meinrad Schade
Norwegian photographer Helge Skodvin, in his exhibition Bergen in May, humorously celebrates moments of collective euphoria, carnival, and parades in the only rain-free month of the year, highlighting the psychological significance of shared rituals and physical presence. Portuguese photographer Pauliana Valente Pimentel, with her work Narcissism of Small Differences, examines the lives of young people on the isolated island of São Miguel in the Azores, asking what happens when we are present only within the boundaries of our own inner worlds.
Helge Skodvin
Angelo Leonardo
Italian photographer Angelo Leonardo, a rising name in documentary photography, presents The World or Nothing, offering a dual perspective on the outskirts of Milan and the inner and outer worlds of the youth who live there.
The Serbian scene is represented by multimedia artist Milica Macanović, whose project Weird Fish is You maps emotional and identity forms of presence emerging in digital environments, and photographer Strahinja Vukić, whose exhibition The Harmony of Existence confronts viewers with moments that usually pass unnoticed.
Milica Macanović
Pauliana Valente Pimentel