Lukas Birk

Lukas Birk (born 1982)[1] is an Austrian photographer, archivist, and publisher. He is known for a visual archive work in Myanmar[2][3] and research on Box Camera photography in Afghanistan. Birk has worked on photographic projects, films and visual research in China, South and South-East Asia and the Indian subcontinent.[4] He has published numerous books on visual culture and photographic history.[5][6]

Lukas Birk
Lukas Birk, 2019
Born (1982-08-30) 30 August 1982
Bregenz, Vorarlberg, Austria
NationalityAustrian
Alma materUniversity of West London,
Rhode Island School of Design
Known forPhotography
WebsiteLukas Birk official website

He co-founded the Austro Sino Art Program (2008–2014) in Beijing, China and the SewonArtSpace in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. He founded the Myanmar Photo Archive, Myanmar’s first public photography archive, and set up an accompanying publishing program.[7] His publishing company Fraglich Publishing focuses on visual culture publications and limited edition prints.

About

Lukas Birk was born in 1982 in Bregenz, Vorarlberg, Austria.[1] Initially he studied journalism and radio.[1] Birk attended at University of West London in the Ealing School of Art Design and Media, graduating with a Bachelor's degree in Digital Art and Photography in 2005.[8] He continuing his studies at Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), graduating with a M.F.A. degree in Printmaking in 2017.[9] Birk's work is held in the public permanent collections at Federal Collection Austria,[10] and Regional Collection Vorarlberg, Austria.[11]

Work

Kafkanistan

Birk’s first major body of work Kafkanistan – tourism to conflict areas (2005–2008), with Irish ethnographer Sean Foley, explores the activities of tourists in Afghanistan and the Pakistani tribal areas. The research resulted in a feature film, exhibition and book.[12]

Austro Sino Arts program

Birk studied Digital art and Photography at the University of West London and after completing his Bachelor’s degree in 2005, he moved to Beijing.[8]

Alongside Austrian artists and professor Karel Dudesek, Birk co-founded the Austro Sino Arts Program (ASAP). ASAP operated out of Beijing between 2008 and 2014, organizing exhibitions, film festivals and publications. The program showcased the work of non-Chinese artists who worked in China and produced artists’ perspectives on China. The project received major support from the Austrian Arts Council.[13][14][15][16]

During his years in China, Birk founded a commercial photography studio, taught photography and exhibited his artworks widely. He also produced a series and monograph titled Polaroids from the Middle Kingdom.[17][18][19]

SewonArtSpace

In 2011, Karel Dudesek and Birk founded SewonArtSpace[20] in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. SewonArtSpace is a non-profit art space and residency program hosting primarily Austrian artists and connecting them to the local art scene in Yogyakarta, one of South East Asia’s most thriving art cities. The project received funding from the Austrian Chancellery office.[21][22]

Afghan Box Camera project

In 2011, Birk returned with his colleague Sean Foley to Afghanistan to investigate the last remaining Box Camera photographers working on the streets of Kabul and other cities in Afghanistan and Peshawar, Pakistan. They conducted research trips between 2011 and 2014 resulting in an online archive,[23] the book Afghan Box Camera (Dewi Lewis, UK, 2013)[24] and the book Photo Peshawar (Mapin, India, 2017).[25][26] Birk and Foley coined the terms Afghan Box Camera and Kamra-e-Faoree,[27] two descriptions for Box Camera photography.[28] This was primarily through the widespread media coverage,[29][30] open-source films and ‘how to build an Afghan Box Camera’ manual[31] published on social media and on their own platform.[32][33]

Myanmar photo archive

Birk started collecting photographic material and conducting research on photographic history in Myanmar in 2013.[34] Since then, he has founded the first public photographic archive focusing on local Myanmar Visual History, the Myanmar Photo Archive (MPA).[35] MPA is organizing exhibitions[7][36] with the materials in the archive – currently comprising 20,000 images – and has started a photo book publishing program in Yangon.[37][38] The books are published in English and Burmese and distributed internationally.[39] The archive has received major funding from the British Library,[40] the Goethe Institute Myanmar[41] and the European Union in Myanmar.[42]

Publications and monographs
  • Kafkanistan – tourism to conflict zones Lukas Birk and Sean Foley. Fraglich Publising, Austria /Glitterati Inc., USA, 2008/2012. ISBN 978-0985169626
  • Afghan Box Camera Lukas Birk and Sean Foley. Dewi Lewis Publishing, United Kingdom, 2013. ISBN 978-1907893360
  • Polaroids from the Middle Kingdom Lukas Birk. Glitterati Inc., USA, 2014. ISBN 978-0988174566
  • 35 Bilder Krieg Lukas Birk. Fraglich Publishing, Austria, 2015. ISBN 978-3-9502773-7-1
  • Photo Peshawar Sean Foley and Lukas Birk. Maping/Pix Publishing, India, 2015. ISBN 978-9385360466
  • Burmese Photographers Lukas Birk. Goethe Institut Myanmar 2018
  • Gülistan Lukas Birk and Natasha Christia. Fraglich Publishing, Austria, 2019
  • FERNWEH – a man's journey Lukas Birk. Fraglich Publishing, Austria, 2019. ISBN 978-3-9502773-0-2·

Editorial work

Austro Sino Arts Program and SewonArtSpace

  • MiFan米饭, Austro Sino Arts Program, Beijing, 2009 ISBN 978-3-9502829-9-3
  • DaBao带走, Austro Sino Arts Program, Beijing, 2010 ISBN 978-3-9502829-1-7
  • ChuenMen泉门, Austro Sino Arts Program, Beijing, 2011 ISBN 978-3-9502829-2-4
  • DaZiBao大字报, Austro Sino Arts Program, Beijing, 2012 ISBN 978-3-9502829-4-8
  • Left/right 左/ 右 , Austro Sino Arts Program, Beijing, 2013 ISBN 978-3-9502829-3-1
  • The Gallop of the Courser 骏马飞驰, Austro Sino Arts Program, Beijing, 2013 ISBN 978-3-9502829-9-3
  • Refuse the shadows of the past; 5 years Austrian Art Made in China. Austro Sino Arts Program, Beijing, 2013 ISBN 978-3-9502829-1-7
  • To Know The Unknown, SewonArtSpace, Indonesia, 2015 ISBN 978-3-9502829-7-9

Myanmar Photo Archive / Fraglich Publishing

  • ONE YEAR IN YANGON 1978. Myanmar Photo Archive, Yangon, 2017 ISBN 978-3-9504079-8-3
  • U Than Maung, the No 1 Amateur Photographer, Myanmar Photo Archive, Yangon, 2018 ISBN 978-3-9504079-0-7
  • REPRODUCED, rethinking P.A. KLier & D.A. Ahuja, Myanmar Photo Archive, Yangon, 2018 ISBN 978-3-9504079-1-4
  • My Universe by BayBay, Myanmar Photo Archive, Yangon, 2019 ISBN 978-3-9504079-2-1
  • Irene – A Burmese Icon, Myanmar Photo Archive, Yangon, 2020 ISBN 978-3-9504079-4-5
  • Yangon Fashion 1979 – Fashion=Resistance, Myanmar Photo Archive, 2020 ISBN 978-3-9504079-3-8

References
  1. Hirsch, Robert (March 2012). "Lukas Birk and the Afghan Box Camera Project" (PDF). Light Research. Retrieved 22 June 2020.
  2. "Official Website". Myanmar Photo Archive. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  3. "Exhibition Looks Back on 120 Years of Photography in Myanmar". The Irrawaddy. 2 February 2018. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  4. "Lukas Birk (Myanmar Photo Archive) on 1970s Burmese National Identity Card Photographs". Object Lessons Space. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  5. "Framing the frontier city". @businessline. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  6. "In Conversation, Lukas Birk on Photo Peshawar". PIX. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  7. "Exhibition Looks Back on 120 Years of Photography in Myanmar". The Irrawaddy. 2 February 2018. Retrieved 31 May 2020.
  8. "Multi-media artist and UWL alumnus returns to share 'the untold story of Afghan photography'". University of West London. 2014. Retrieved 22 June 2020.
  9. "Mysterious Myanmar". Our RISD. Retrieved 22 June 2020.
  10. "Kunst und Kultur – Bundeskanzleramt Österreich". www.bundeskanzleramt.gv.at. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  11. {{Cite web|title=Land Vorarlberg – Presse|url=https://presse.vorarlberg.at/land/dist/vlk-59176.html%7Caccess-date=2020-06-03%7C
  12. "Artists Lukas Birk and Sean Foley Defy Misconceptions of the Middle East with "Kafkanistan"". Complex. Retrieved 2 June 2020.
  13. ""Chuan men"--The third exhibition of the Austro Sino Arts Program opens at Amelie Gallery, Beijing – Exhibitions – Art News – CAFA ART INFO | Find Chinese Contemporary Art and News". www.cafa.com.cn. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  14. "mǐfàn | article | ARTLINKART | Chinese contemporary art database". www.artlinkart.com. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  15. "奥地利中国艺术项目ASAP2012 EXHIBITION《左右/left and right》_豆瓣". www.douban.com (in Chinese). Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  16. "Kunst und Kultur – Bundeskanzleramt Österreich". www.bundeskanzleramt.gv.at. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
  17. Birk, Lukas (2014). Polaroids from the middle kingdom : old and new world visions of China (1st ed.). New York: Glitterati. ISBN 978-0-9881745-6-6. OCLC 854617428.
  18. Reporters, Telegraph (2 July 2015). "The best coffee table books out now". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  19. "Lukas Birk". Huck Magazine. 1 April 2014. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  20. "SewonArtSpace". SewonArtSpace. Retrieved 31 May 2020.
  21. "SewonArtSpace". www.transartists.org. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  22. Unknown (3 March 2012). "Jago Tarung Yogyakarta: SEWON ART SPACE: INDONESIA-AUSTRIA COLLABORATION". Jago Tarung Yogyakarta. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  23. "Afghan Box Camera Project". www.afghanboxcamera.com. Retrieved 31 May 2020.
  24. Birk, Lukas. Afghan box camera. Foley, Sean. Stockport. ISBN 1-907893-36-9. OCLC 867078223.
  25. Foley, Sean. Photo Peshawar = Pishāvar ke foṭogrāfar. Birk, Lukas, Khan, Omar 1958–. Ahmedabad, India. ISBN 978-93-85360-46-6. OCLC 1043638133.
  26. "The strange world of Pakistani glamour photography". Huck Magazine. 1 August 2018. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  27. "Instant Street Photography, Afghanistan-Style". NPR.org. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  28. Liliy, Roth (2 February 2012). "The Disappearing Afghan Box Camera". TIME Lightbox.
  29. "In pictures: Afghan box camera". BBC News. 1 February 2014. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  30. "Afghan Box Cameras: how street photographers captured a nation". the Guardian. 1 February 2014. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  31. "How to build a Kamra-e-faoree" (PDF).
  32. "How to build a kamra-e-faoree (Afghan box camera)". Vimeo. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  33. "How to use an Afghan box camera "kamra-e-faoree"". Vimeo. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  34. "Lukas Birk, Myanmar Photo Archive | Landscape Stories". magazine.landscapestories.net (in Italian). Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  35. "Myanmar Photo Archive". Open Source Archive. Retrieved 31 May 2020.
  36. "Archiving the lives of others". The Myanmar Times. 1 February 2018. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  37. "Retro shots of Myanmar youth culture from the '70s to the '90s". Huck Magazine. 5 April 2018. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  38. "Chinese Photo Studios in Yangon: The Myanmar Photo Archive". Photography of China. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  39. "Structuring the past in pictures". The Myanmar Times. 2 February 2020. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  40. "Endangered archives blog: Impressions from Myanmar". blogs.bl.uk. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  41. "Culture – Magazine – Goethe-Institut Myanmar". www.goethe.de. Retrieved 31 May 2020.
  42. "Delegation of the European Union to Myanmar". EEAS – European External Action Service – European Commission. Retrieved 31 May 2020.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.