Fotobokfestivalen 2026

From 23 to 27 September, the Photobook Festival takes over the ground floor of Oslo Kunstforening. Drawing on the Tibetan concept of "bardo", this year's edition draws parallels between a world in existential limbo and the photobook as a tactile universe with its own internal logic. In an unsettled time where value systems and realities clash, the festival explores how the book format and the exhibition space can be foregrounded as a sphere for contemplation.

In The Tibetan Book of the Dead (Bardo Thodol), the bardos – literally meaning "intermediate states" – are systematically organised into six distinct states of consciousness. The life bardos cover the three natural states within a physical lifetime: waking everyday life, the dream world, and deep meditation. The death bardos describe the mind's journey after death, from the dying process itself and the encounter with intense mental illusions, to karma drawing consciousness into a new rebirth. In this way, the exhibition space and the experience of the book are conceived as a bardo in themselves – a contemplative refuge that offers audiences the opportunity to confront the disorienting pace and unreal narratives of the present moment.

At the core of this year's festival is the main exhibition, presenting projects by Anton Benois, Louis Porter, Ola Rindal, Rahel Zoller, Tonje Li, and Yukihito Kono. The latter has specially curated a selection of books that explore the unique potential of the photobook. To broaden the conversation around this year's theme, the exhibition is accompanied by a varied programme of events and workshops throughout the festival period.

The selection includes books by: Daisuke Yokota, Daniel Shea, Gabriele Chiapparini & Camilla Marrese, Letizia Le Fur, Marte Aas, PIDAN, Seiichi Furuya & Christine Furuya-Gössler, Shin Hamada, Thomas Mailaender, and Véronique Rolland.

Fotobokfestivalen 2026 is supported by Oslo kommune, Kulturdirektoratet, Norsk Fotografisk Fond, and Fritt Ord. Read more here.