Edition 2018

THE TRAIN, RFK’S LAST JOURNEY

PAUL FUSCO, REIN JELLE TERPSTRA & PHILIPPE PARRENO

On 8 June 1968, three days after the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy, his body was carried by a funeral train from New York City to Washington D.C. The Train looks at this historical event through three distinct works. The first is a group of color photographs by commissioned photographer Paul Fusco. Taken from the funeral train, the images capture mourners who lined the railway tracks to pay their final respects. Looking from the opposite perspective, the second work features photographs and home movies by the spectators themselves, collected by Dutch artist Rein Jelle Terpstra in his project The People’s View (2014-18). The third, a work titled 8 June 1968 by French artist Philippe Parreno, is a 70mm film reenactment of the funeral train’s journey, which in Parreno’s words, “shows the point of view of the dead.” Bringing historical and contemporary works together in dialogue, this powerful, multidisciplinary exhibition sheds new light on a key moment in American culture and memory.

Exhibition curators: Clément Chéroux and Linde B. Lehtinen.
Exhibition produced by the Museum of Modern Art of San Francisco, in collaboration with the Rencontres d'Arles.
Publication: The Train, Éditions Textuel, 2018.
Wallpapers by Picto, Paris.

Generous support for The Train, RFK’s Last Journey is provided by The Black Dog Private Foundation, Nion McEvoy, and Wes and Kate Mitchell. Additional support is provided by Lynn Kirshbaum and the Mondriaan Fund.

  • Institutional partners

    • République Française
    • Région Provence Alpes Côté d'Azur
    • Département des Bouches du Rhône
    • Arles
    • Le Centre des monuments nationaux est heureux de soutenir les Rencontres de la Photographie d’Arles en accueillant des expositions dans l’abbaye de Montmajour
  • Main partners

    • Fondation LUMA
    • BMW
    • SNCF
    • Kering
  • Media partners

    • Arte
    • Lci
    • Konbini
    • Le Point
    • Madame Figaro
    • France Culture