Marita Gootee
By Kesley Brownlee
Songzhuang International Photo Biennale accepted nine of Mississippi State University Department of Art Professor Marita Gootee’s images from her “Sand Shadows Series” for the international call for photo artists/photographers. The theme “Live in This Moment, Return to the Origin” and was held in Songzhuang, Beijing, China. Songzhuang Photo is a major part of the 10th Annual Songzhuang Art Festival. It will be held in the Czech China Contemporary Museum (CCCM) from Sept. 29 to Oct. 13.
Gootee is one of 37 artists selected to be presented at the Songzhuang International Photo Biennale. Each artist will exhibit nine images. The countries represented are Australia, Belarus, Canada, China, Dubai, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Netherlands, Peru, USA, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Turkey and Ukraine.
There will be an exhibition catalogue exclusive to the 2017 Songzhuang International Photo Biennale. The catalogue will feature a luxurious linen cloth hardcover, high quality paper and full color prints. The catalogue will contain 350 pages, with each artist having four pages. One of the four pages will introduce the artist, and the other three will display the art.
Songzhuang Photo is a legally registered art organization sponsored by both domestic and international curators/directors, critics, artists, writers and poets in Songzhuang, Beijing. It is based on the idea of a permanent exhibition with changing themes. Through peer support and mutual encouragement, the aim is to promote the artistic development and professional advancement of domestic and international artists/photographers.
Today, Songzhuang is the largest artist community in the world, with more than 8,000 artists living in this art community. Among those are curators/directors, critics, artists, writers and poets. It may also be the most dynamic and vibrant community with some of the best artists worldwide, both famous and unknown. This community of artists, art museums, galleries, exhibitions and art activities is situated in the eastern suburbs of Beijing.