Dr Viktoria Bavykina is a curator and sociologist of culture. She works with photography, political art, and feminist optics in artistic practices. Currently, she is a fellow researcher at The Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities, University of Edinburgh (British Council 90th Anniversary Research Fellow) and an associate curator at the Open Eye Gallery in Liverpool. Together with Max Gorbatskyi, she co-founded Ukrainian.Photographies, a platform dedicated to international research on Ukrainian photography. Their curatorial collaborations include the Ukrainian National Pavilion at the 60th Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia (2024), the HOME programme for EuroFestival/Eurovision 2023 in Liverpool City Region, as well as exhibitions at BredaPhoto Festival, Stills Centre for Photography in Edinburgh and UK Parliament in London. Previously, she was a curator of the Grynyov Art Foundation and art director of the AKT art space in Kyiv, Ukraine. Co-curated several exhibitions dedicated to the Ukrainian Photographic Alternative, an informal group that united over 100 photographers from all over Ukraine. In 2020, Bavykina defended her PhD in sociology of culture at V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University. She is a recipient of the UK Government’s Chevening Scholarship.

Monica Allende is a curator, creative director, consultant, and educator with a distinguished international career in contemporary photography and visual storytelling. She is the Creative Director of The Blue Skies Project, a multidisciplinary collaboration with artist Anton Kusters, currently on display at the V&A Museum. The project has also been exhibited at UNESCO, Museum Angewandte Kunst, Rencontres d’Arles, and The Photographers’ Gallery, London. Allende is also curating the annual Sony World Photography Awards exhibition at Somerset House and is working as Creative Director with Laia Abril on a new project exploring women political prisoners. Allende has served as Artistic Director of the Landskrona Foto Festival and GetxoPhoto International Image Festival, and was Director of FORMAT17 International Photography Festival. Her recent curatorial projects include Light, exhibited during Photo London 2021 at Peckham 24. She has also collaborated with WeTransfer and Canon as a consultant and creative director. She works closely with CAMPO.lat, a Latin American digital platform, developing curatorial strategies, and contributes to educational and mentorship initiatives with the VII Foundation. As an educator, Allende has produced and led creative labs and workshops for institutions worldwide, including FIFV (Chile), Proyecto Imaginario (Argentina), ScreenLab (London), Taskheil (Saudi Arabia), the University of Sunderland Mentorship Business Programme, Internazionale a Ferrara, WPP Workshop Angola, Magnum Professional Practice, Grain, FORMAT’s “East Meets West” Programme, and the WPP Joop Swart Masterclass. Previously, she was the Photo Editor at The Sunday Times Magazine, where she launched Spectrum, its award-winning photography section. A passionate advocate for emerging and established visual storytellers, Allende regularly serves as a juror for international awards and artists’ residencies. She advises on curatorial practices and currently sits on the Boards of Trustees and advisory boards of The Photographers’ Gallery (London) and the Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation.

Franek Ammer - multimedia artist and curator of Fotofestiwal in Lodz. Before joining Fotofestiwal, co-founded TIFF International Photography Festival. He devoted a large part of his work to bringing up aspects related to the photobooks and popularizing them in Poland. This interest resulted in several exhibitions, lectures and cooperations. In the Fotofestiwal collective, he is responsible for the festival program, coordination of exhibitions, events and photobook section. Franek is also Co-CEO of artistic company Eternal Shipping Ltd. and co-founder of 19 Rivers publishing collective. He lectures at the Fine Arts Academy in Lodz and the University of Arts in Poznan.

Mohamed Somji is the Director of Gulf Photo Plus (GPP), a Dubai-based gallery and community organization cultivating visual practices in photography in the UAE, and across the wider MENASA region since 2004. As part of GPP’s commitment to developing visual and critical literacy, the organization engages the community with regular educational and art programming, exhibitions of work from and about the region and providing resources for photographers from film developing and processing to fine art printing, a photobook store and more. Mohamed is also a practicing documentary photographer whose practice locates and probes schisms in contemporary life, challenging the status quo with sensitive, critical commentary on the politics of representation.