David Bate will be the Keynote speaker at the ‘Conflicted’ Format Photography Festival Conference in Derby, UK.

In his keynote address, entitled The Conflictual Image, Bate will ask: How do images of conflict intersect with ideas of consensus? How do images of consensus intersect with ideas of conflict? What kind of agency does a ‘conflict image’ have in contemporary society and in the ‘attention economy’ of our social media age? How can creative practices navigate our relation to conflictual feelings?

Throughout history societies, civilizations and cultures have been subject to division and catastrophic change amidst periods of stability and peace. Recent times have borne witness to what would seem to be one monumental change and challenge after the other – a seemingly endless slew of emergencies including the Covid pandemic, a cost-of-living crisis, catastrophic wars, coupled with a sense – across the globe – that political populism is becoming the norm. Consensus, agreement and simple kindness can at times seem to be at a premium. The world is a conflicted place.

So too is the medium that is often relied upon to arbitrate and give witness to the unfolding of events and circumstances in which our lives change and are challenged. Far from offering the assumed sanctuary of objectivity, the meanings lean to photographic images are predicated upon uncertainty and ambivalence, often resulting in interpretations and applications that incite argument and validate prejudice, rather than promote conciliation and cooperation.

Yet, photography is a medium that can have an uncanny ability to speak truth to power, to succinctly and powerfully reflect the world about us, and to make us stop, think and reset. Who better to help us through this time, to guide us and to help us understand, than the artist, the photographer, the filmmaker?

Hosted by FORMAT and organised by academics from the University of Derby, the conference will feature presentations by a range of speakers providing an international perspective on the relationships between photography and the conflicted world in which we live.

Confirmed speakers include:

David Bate (UK) Keynote
Linda Alterwitz (USA)
Alicia Bruce (UK)
Nataliia Dniprenko (Ukraine)
Philip Harris (UK)
Lesia Maruschak (Canada)
Gemma Marmalade (UK)
Stephen Watson (UK)

Additional speakers to be confirmed.

FORMAT25 Conference at QUAD – organised by University of Derby and QUAD/FORMAT. An all-day event, inspired by the festival theme ‘Conflicted’ featuring a keynote address by David Bate, plus artists and curators exhibiting as part of the festival. Followed by FORMAT25 exhibition launches at the University of Derby, Markeaton Street Campus and an afterparty at Derby’s Dubrek.

Find out more and book tickets here.