O IMAGO LISBOA Photo Festival é um acontecimento marcante no panorama da fotografia nacional e internacional.

The 6^th edition of Imago Lisboa proposes as its central theme Action for a Green Future, calling for different artistic narratives around global warming. This climatic phenomenon, which results in a gradual increase in the Earth's average temperature over time, is mainly caused by the intensification of the greenhouse effect, a natural process that retains part of the solar heat in the atmosphere, sustaining life on the planet. However, intensive human activities, like the burning of fossil fuels (such as coal, oil and natural gas) and the deforestation of large areas, have significantly increased the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, worsening global warming.

Across several exhibition centres, featuring works by renowned artists alongside emerging ones, we intend to provoke a deep reflection that, despite being on the agenda of many events, has not yet achieved a widespread change in behaviours, whether collective or individual. Individual action plays an important role. Changes in daily habits, such as reducing energy consumption, opting for sustainably sourced foods, minimizing waste and promoting more sustainable lifestyles, all contribute to the fight against global warming.

Climate change is already apparent in the increased frequency and intensity of extreme weather events such as heat waves, droughts, storms and floods; global warming has been accelerating the melting of polar ice caps, contributing to rising sea levels, threatening coastal populations; climate change affects ecosystems, leading to the loss of biodiversity and displacement of animal species, even endangering their survival as species; water scarcity is another imminent danger that affects not only agriculture but also human health. These and other consequences of global warming will be the theme of the festival’s program, which, through educational actions comprising guided tours, colloquiums, round tables, workshops and projections, seeks to contribute to greater individual awareness of this serious problem. Combating global warming and mitigating its effects requires the adoption of measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, adapt to climate change and seek sustainable solutions for human activities.

— Rui Prata

Lisbon hosts the sixth edition of Imago Lisboa, a photography festival of reference, which brings together contemporary authors in exhibitions, conferences, conversations and workshops occurring in several exhibition centres and cultural spaces across the city.

The theme of this edition is Action for a Green Future, which incites reflection and calls for action towards the planet’s sustainable development, in the present and in the future.

“Recording with light”, which is the etymological meaning of the word photography, inspired the first photosensitive experiments from Classical Antiquity to the present day. From the “camera obscura”, an optical device capable of creating inverted images, to the invention and development of portable models, first analogue and then digital, technologies have allowed the medium to be perfected, with the aim of ever better capturing and eternalising reality. Nowadays, it is even possible to create new realities through Artificial Intelligence.

At Imago Lisboa, guest authors present artistic narratives that explore the frontiers of the medium in conjunction with other artistic techniques, reflecting on the impacts of the human action on the planet and the need to preserve and maintain the environment.

Today, the issue becomes increasingly pressing due to the urgency of raising awareness about each person’s role in reversing the process of depletion of natural resources and the environment, and encouraging the adoption of behaviours and practices that respect, capitalize on and preserve, natural and environmental resources.

What is at stake is man’s behaviour in the face of humanity’s survival on the planet. We believe that local action generates global impact, which is nowadays a fundamental premise for the integrated and sustainable management of a city.

Lisbon has a structural role in leading local climate action an d aims to lead the way in the implementation of a more comprehensive set of measures and projects that will accelerate energy transition, carbon neutrality, the sustainable expansion of renewable energy, climate adaptation, environmental protection, the preservation of natural capital and ecosystem services and the circularity of material flows. These are strategic areas that are at the heart of decision processes across the entire City Council, and that count on the active and informed participation of the local community, creating spaces and mechanisms that allow the involvement of residents, companies, institutions, associations and civil society.

It is with a sense of commitment and the certainty that together we can build a better Lisbon that the City Council joins the sixth edition of Imago Lisboa.

— Laurentina Pereira
Municipal Director of Culture at Lisbon City Council