Mentoring – Adam Broomberg

Not scheduled

Code Completion Credits Range Language of instruction Semester
307DME credit 3 24 exercise hours (45 min) of instruction per semester, 57 to 72 hours of self-study English winter

Subject guarantor

Hynek ALT

Name of lecturer(s)

Hynek ALT

Department

The subject provides Department of Photography

Contents

Date and time: 4–8 November 2026 — guest lecture at STUDIO FAMU (4.11), workshop at GAMU (5.11–6.11), consolidation (7.11), presentation of the collective artwork at GAMU gallery (8.11)

The workshop, „The Man of Family,“ takes as its starting point The Family of Man, the landmark 1955 exhibition curated by Edward Steichen at MoMA, whose meaning remains highly contested — set against Roland Barthes's critique of its sentimental universalism and Ariella Aïsha Azoulay's defence of it as an invitation to human-rights reflection. Participants physically alter copies of the exhibition catalogue through collage, cut-ups and other mechanical interventions, then process the altered images through an AI platform to further abstract and reinterpret the material. Day 1: guest lecture by Adam Broomberg, followed by a conversation with Peter Watkins and audience Q&A, at STUDIO FAMU. Days 2–3: studio workshop sessions at GAMU. Day 4: consolidation of the material into a collective artwork. Day 5: presentation of the collective artwork at GAMU gallery.

Learning outcomes

Students gain practical experience with collage and appropriation strategies applied to archival photographic material; critical engagement with debates on universalism, myth and human rights in photographic representation; experience contributing to a collectively authored artwork; exposure to using AI image-processing tools within an artistic practice; and experience presenting and installing collaborative work in a gallery context at GAMU.

Prerequisites and other requirements

Open to MgA students in the Department of Photography. No specific technical prerequisite; basic familiarity with image-editing tools is helpful.

Literature

Edward Steichen (ed.), The Family of Man, exhibition catalogue (MoMA, 1955); Roland Barthes, „The Great Family of Man,“ in Mythologies (1957); Ariella Aïsha Azoulay, writing on The Family of Man and universal rights education; and „The Nuclear Family of Man,“ which critiques the exhibition's omission of the reality of the nuclear bombs dropped a decade earlier. Digital copies of all essays and the catalogue will be provided ahead of the workshop.

Evaluation methods and criteria

Credit, based on attendance and active participation in the workshop sessions and a contribution to the collective artwork presented at GAMU.

Note

Co-run by Peter Watkins. Guest lecture on 4.11 at STUDIO FAMU is open to other departments and outside institutions (e.g. UMPRUM). Final outcome: a collective artwork presented at GAMU gallery, 8 November 2026.

Further information

No schedule has been prepared for this course

The subject is a part of the following study plans