Edition 2019

MOHAMED BOUROUISSA

FREE TRADE

Mohamed Bourouissa can be found in Monoprix. He chose this particular location to display fifteen years of creation combining photography, video, painting, drawing and sculpture. A superstore provides an interesting context to his body of work, which questions the place of the unemployed and humble members of our society, but also the circulation of money and knowledge. He had already expressed this concern at the beginning of his career through two photography series, Nous sommes Halles and Périphériques, which addressed the tensions between reality and stereotypes regarding banlieue youth, the rituals and markers of their identity. Free Trade tells the story of commercial and non-commercial exchanges. By using various methods (re-enacted scenes, hidden cameras, stolen and phone photography), Mohamed Bourouissa reveals fragments of reality by bringing out new stories. The economic relationships between people who shape our society are at the heart of his work, from exchange to the value we give to things. In this exhibition, the circulation of money and images is analyzed through its consequential control and limitation. Mohamed Bourouissa never ceases to renew his approach. He builds a prolific and complex body of work, among the most appreciated on the international scene.
Magali Jauffret

On the occasion of the exhibition Free Trade, Mohamed Bourouissa presents an augmented reality work featuring virtual sculptures.
It is based on the idea of the “reserve army of the unemployed”. Using the app, visitors can walk through the exhibition space while summoning up silhouettes of digitalized persons, creating a bridge between working and jobless people, who are invisible to society because of their status.

Exhibition curator: Sam Stourdzé.
With the complicity of Françoise Vogt.

  • 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