Nadalandia (Nadalandija)

Should the
loyalty to the City of Women be measured, then Naga Žgank would
be one of its most loyal citizens. She joined the festival team in 1999 and
this year marks thirteen years of regularly documenting the festival as well as
other events organised by the City of Women Association. Anyone who has ever worked with
her knows Nada to be an inventive, reliable person who is always willing to
help – even when the work has to be done at a feverish tempo, during impossible
hours or as a volunteer.  Watch for a
blonde at this year’s City of Women and you will see her – and her
camera (and even larger lens) – in every imaginable pose, immersed into the
action and with an infallible eye for festival contents, taking those
incredible shots. If there is any person at the City of Women Festival who deserves a special tribute –
not only because of her amazing and vivid photography but also due to her
kindness and humanity – you might catch a moment to shake her hand. (Sabina Potočki,
former collaborator of the Association for Promotion of Women in Culture – City
of Women)

Nada Žgank
is considered one of the best women photographers in the field of stage
photography in Slovenia and her lenses have recorded
innumerable events at theatre, dance and music festivals. She is distinguished
by her sublime sense of space and light – as well as darkness – in capturing
stage moments … and leaving magical images behind.
Nadalandia is a selection of photographs taken
at the City of Women Festival, which she has been covering since 1999. She
has focused on the artists whose interpretations featured transformations of
the body. Thus the series reveals a field of “phantasmagorical” metamorphoses
originating from various motifs; either as a critique of ideals of beauty,
inspired by tradition or as a form of social and political commentary.  Nadalandia is the Land of Nada Žgank … the land of imagination. (Urška Comino)

Production and organisation: City of Women; In collaboration with:
Slovenska Kinoteka.