5 must-see exhibitions at the Rencontres d’Arles The unmissable highlights of this edition
As the frenzy of the opening week gently fades, Arles begins to breathe at a different pace. The electric excitement of the first few days and its initial wave of visitors - who came as much to celebrate photography as to party into the early hours - are now giving way to a steady, passionate stream of art lovers who will keep the ancient city vibrant all summer long.
Historical utopia at the Ancien Collège Mistral: Omar Victor Diop & Lee Shulman
What if segregation had never existed? This is the staggering and deeply political question raised by the exhibition "Being There," nestled within the solemn setting of the Ancien Collège Mistral. At the core of this project is a striking visual dialogue between the vintage snapshots of Lee Shulman and the work of Omar Victor Diop. The latter, a breakout star of the 2011 Bamako Encounters - whose acclaimed Diaspora series notably graced the cover of the seminal book Fashioning Masculinities: The Art of Menswear - boldly steps into History with a capital H.
The starting point is a collection of images captured in North America during the 1950s and 1960s. It was an era of stark contrasts, caught between an economic boom, a veneer of carefree consumerism, and racial segregation as the civil rights movement gathered momentum. By cleverly inserting himself into these everyday scenes of white America, Omar Victor Diop, alongside Shulman, rewrites the past. They inject a Black presence precisely where mainstream history strove to render it impossible. Operating somewhere between healing fiction and political document, the result is uniquely powerful.
Beatlemania: Paul McCartney from a different angle
While everyone knows the legendary choruses of Liverpool's favorite son by heart, his eye as a photographer is far less familiar. This is the great surprise of this year's festival. In 2020, nearly a thousand photographs taken by Paul McCartney using a 35mm camera were unearthed from his personal archives. The fruits of this rediscovery are now on display in a curation of nearly 250 photographs.
The setting is the early 1960s. In just a few short months, the Fab Four transformed from a local British sensation into global icons. McCartney immortalizes this seismic shift from the inside out. The exhibition plunges us into the intimacy of life on the road, amidst endless rehearsals, smoke-filled hotel rooms, and backstage concert chaos, traveling from London to Paris and right into the tidal wave of their first American tour. It stands as an unvarnished testament to both the isolation and the euphoria of a band thrown into the media spotlight.
Granet Museum, Aix-en-Provence
The poetry of absence at the Galerie la Mercerie: Morgane Ortin & Natas3000
The Galerie la Mercerie offers a shift in tone and atmosphere with the screening of an exquisitely delicate short film: "Un train en cache un autre" (One Train May Hide Another). This project is born from the artistic and romantic partnership between Morgane Ortin, author of the global bestseller Amours Solitaires, and video artist Natas3000.
Shot entirely on Super8 film during a trip to Japan last November, the movie unfolds with a nostalgic, vibrant aesthetic and a highly distinct grain. Through her partner's lens, Morgane Ortin delivers a narrative on loss and memory, encapsulated by these poignant words: "I wanted to write about my father. I ended up writing about all the people who disappear without dying." It is a suspended, poetic, and melancholy interlude that proves moving images have a rightful place at the heart of the Rencontres.
An irreverent tribute to Martin Parr at the Hôtel Nord Pinus
The photography world is still mourning the loss last year of the brilliant Martin Parr. The absolute master of social satire finds the perfect setting for a posthumous tribute inside a true Arlesian institution: the Hôtel Nord Pinus, which has just treated itself to a splendid makeover.
Under the guidance of curators Matthieu Humery and Clémentine de la Féronnière, the exhibition takes over the hotel's spaces. The Englishman's colorful, biting, and irresistibly funny snapshots adorn the walls of the grand marble staircase, contrasting beautifully with its emerald green carpet. It is a chic and mischievous stroll that reminds us just how irreplaceable Parr’s gaze on our contemporary quirks remains.
Contemporary alchemy: Lara Tabet & Yasmine Chemali
To close this journey, we head toward pure experimentation with "Le corps vitré" (The Vitreous Body), a fascinating exhibition by Lara Tabet and Yasmine Chemali. Winners of the prestigious prize supported by BMW France, the two artists offer an unprecedented reflection at the intersection of science and photography.
The methodology developed by Lara Tabet resembles a scientific performance: mapping a highly personal geography of the waters she crosses, the visual artist collects samples from port zones, estuaries, and industrialized coastlines. She then uses these laden waters to initiate a bacteriography process. Placed onto the gelatin of color film, microbes and microorganisms come alive, gnawing away and altering the chemical makeup of the film through corrosion. These living "image-ecosystems" are then magnified and translated into stained-glass pieces of both mystical and organic beauty.
Far from the tumult of the opening days, now is the ideal time to explore the city at your own pace, slipping behind the doors of its palaces and hidden galleries. The cultural wealth is right there, scattered across every corner of Arles...all you have to do is let yourself be guided.