Women In Motion and women photographers at Rencontres d’Arles 2023

Curated by Maria Angélica Melendi, "On the ruins of photography" is the first major monograph organized in France on the Brazilian's work. 

Interested in "the way the system tries to erase or manipulate links with the past," the photographer appropriates and transforms archival photographic material into an art installation or a book of photography. Her work is a detailed exploration of time, of forgetting, and the social and psychological changes that affect memory.

On Tuesday July 4, 2023, during the first evening event at the Théâtre Antique in Arles, Kering and the Rencontres d'Arles presented the fifth Women In Motion Award for photography to the Brazilian photographer Rosângela Rennó. 

Rosângela Rennó was born in 1962 in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. She currently lives and works in Rio de Janeiro. Her work on photographs, objects and installations is characterized by the investigation of different politics of the photographic representation and absorption and of the relations between memory and forgetfulness, by appropriating images from diverse sources, from fleamarkets and internet photos to institutional archives. Precarious, abandoned photographic archives and even 'dead files' have led her to engage herself on clarifying and fighting the recurring narratives of erasure and ‘structural ignorance,’ used as a strategy of historical amnesia and exclusion of a large part of the population, especially in Brazil and South Global countries. She also dedicates herself to the creation of videos and artist’s books, always in the same conceptual basis.

The Brazilian photographer is the most recent figure to record an episode of the Women In Motion podcast. Since 2019, the podcast offers a platform for women working in culture and the arts. From season to season, they talk us through their journeys, experiences, their views and more generally, on the status of women in society in industries that remain affected by disparities.

Discover the Women In Motion podcast

Women In Motion proudly supports "La Pointe Courte, from photographs to film," an exhibition curated by Carole Sandrin, assisted by Elisa Magnani of the Institut pour la photographie. Created with the approval of Rosalie Varda and the Ciné-Tamaris team, the exhibition presents photographs taken by Agnès Varda in the summer of 1954 before and during the shooting of her film entitled "La Pointe Courte."

To further contribute to the recognition of women’s talent, Women In Motion has supported the Prix de la Photo Madame Figaro Arles since its creation in 2016. Each year, the Award recognizes a woman photographer for her creative excellence and daring. The 2023 Prix de la Photo Madame Figaro Arles was awarded to the young iranian photographer, Hannah Darabi. For the first time, a special jury mention was awarded to Riti Sengupta.