Edition 2019

WALLS OF POWER

MAN-MADE BARRIERS THROUGHOUT EUROPE

We tend to see European culture as open and inclusive. Nevertheless, in recent years, we have seen barriers rising all over the continent. Building walls to protect a land is nothing new. We do not need to look back as far as Hadrian’s Wall; throughout our history there have been barriers splitting up the European landscape. Through contemporary documentary photography, the exhibition investigates walls, fences, and their immediate surroundings; specifically, those erected by authorities and still standing today to prohibit people from either leaving or entering the European territory. Although there are prime examples of walls of all sorts around the world—such as on the US-Mexican border, between the two Koreas, Israel and the West Bank, Pakistan and India, and South Ossetia, just to name a few—this selection concentrates on one continent, Europe. The group photo exhibition differentiates three types of walls according to their purpose: Walls of Influence, Walls of Segregation, and Walls of Migration.


With photographs, videos and objects by Lvova Anastasiya (1988), Olivia Arthur/Magnum Photos (1980), Arnau Bach (1981), Attila Balázs/MTI (1969), István Bielik (1985), David Brauchli/Reuters, Sergi Cámara (1970), Tijen Erol (1966), Vasily Fedosenko/Reuters (1960), Claus Felix/DPA, Christiane Feser (1977), George Georgiou (1961), Axel Grünewald (1954), András D. Hajdú (1981), Patrick Hertzog/AFP (1962), Balázs Ivándi-Szabó (1985), Ciril Jazbec (1987), Jérémie Jung/Signatures (1980), Dejan Kaps (1979-2016), Davor Konjikušić (1979), Dmitri Makhomet (1975), Gérard Malié/AFP (1941), Kevin McElvaney (1987), Simon Móricz-Sabján (1980), Vesselina Nikolaeva (1976), Daniel Leal Olivas (1987), José Palazón/Reuters, Marcell Piti (1990), Frankie Quinn (1966), Tomáš Rafa (1979), Ferenc Rédei (1944), Timofey Rozhansky (1991), Jérôme Sessini/Magnum Photos (1968), Lutz Schmidt/AP, Łukasz Skąpski (1958), Tamás Sóki (1993), TerraProject Photographers, Tamás Urbán/Fortepan (1945), Kai Wiedenhöfer (1966), Henk Wildschut (1967).

Exhibition curator: István Virágvölgyi, winner of the Rencontres d’Arles curatorial research fellowship.
Mounting by Deuxième Œil, Paris.
Prints by Pigmenta Art Print Lab, Budapest.
Framing by CIRCAD.

With support from the Robert Capa Contemporary Photography Center, Budapest.
The Rencontres d’Arles curatorial fellowship receives the support of Jean-François Dubos.

  • 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