Kering and the Rencontres d’Arles will present the 2019 Women In Motion Award for photography to Susan Meiselas

Since its launch at the Festival de Cannes in 2015, Women In Motion has highlighted the creativity and uniqueness of talented women in the fields of arts and culture, whose work is helping to transform our vision of the world. 

 

This year, Kering is partnering the Rencontres d’Arles to create the Women In Motion Award and the Women In Motion LAB, whilst maintaining the support it has provided since 2016 for talented young women with the Prix de la Photo Madame Figaro Arles. With this five-year partnership, Kering is strengthening its commitment to women photographers by firmly establishing Women In Motion at the most important event in the world of photography.

 

For its first edition at Arles, the Women In Motion Award is being awarded to Susan Meiselas. The American documentary photographer is one of the few women today to be a member of the Magnum Photos agency. Her works offer a singular view of women’s lives, and reflect her commitment to women’s issues: Carnival Strippers (1972-1975) reveals the daily life of strippers at local fairs in the southern states of America; Prince Street Girls (1975-1990) highlights the young women of the Little Italy district of New York; while A Room of Their Own (2015-2017) is a denunciation of the abuse and violence suffered by women in the West Midlands region of Britain.

 

The Women In Motion Award will be presented to Susan Meiselas on Tuesday, July 2 at the Théâtre Antique in Arles during an evening event, when she will talk about her career and her view of women’s representation in the world of photography.

 

The Women In Motion Award is accompanied by award money of €25,000 for the acquisition of works by Susan Meiselas, enriching the photographic collection of the Rencontres d’Arles.

 

About Susan Meiselas

Born in 1948 in Baltimore, USA, Susan Meiselas is a documentary photographer who lives and works in New York. She is the author of Carnival Strippers (1976), Nicaragua (1981), Kurdistan: In the Shadow of History (1997), Pandora’s Box (2001), Encounters with the Dani (2003), Prince Street Girls (2016) and A Room Of Their Own (2017). 

She has co-edited two works: El Salvador, Work of 30 Photographers (1983) and Chile from Within (1990), which were republished as e-books in 2013. She has also co-directed two films: Living at Risk (1985) and Pictures from a Revolution (1991) with Richard P. Rogers and Alfred Guzzetti. 

Susan Meiselas is renowned for her work on human rights in Latin America, and her photographs feature in both American and international collections. In 1992, she received the MacArthur Award and was awarded, in 2015, a Guggenheim Fellowship. She was also presented with the 2019 Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize. 

Mediations, an exhibition of her life’s work from the 1970s to today, was recently presented at the Fundació Antoni Tàpies in Barcelona, the Jeu de Paume in Paris, and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

 

About Women In Motion

A major priority for the Group, Kering’s commitment to women extends into the world of arts and culture through the Women In Motion program. For although creativity is one of the most powerful forces for change, gender inequality in this area remains flagrant. 

Kering, a partner of the Cannes Film Festival, launched Women In Motion in 2015 to shine a light on women’s contribution to cinema, both in front of and behind the camera. Since then, the program has been expanded to include the worlds of photography, art and literature. Through its awards, Women In Motion recognizes both inspirational figures and talented young women, while its Talks provide an opportunity for some of the leading names in cinema to share their views on women’s representation in their profession.

 

For the past five years, Women In Motion has been a platform for helping to change mindsets and to providing thought leadership on both the role and the recognition given to women in all areas of the arts.

 

About Kering 

A global Luxury group, Kering manages the development of a series of renowned Houses in Fashion, Leather Goods, Jewelry and Watches: Gucci, Saint Laurent, Bottega Veneta, Balenciaga, Alexander McQueen, Brioni, Boucheron, Pomellato, Dodo, Qeelin, Ulysse Nardin, Girard-Perregaux, as well as Kering Eyewear. By placing creativity at the heart of its strategy, Kering enables its Houses to set new limits in terms of their creative expression while crafting tomorrow's Luxury in a sustainable and responsible way. We capture these beliefs in our signature: “Empowering Imagination”. 

 

 

About the Rencontres d’Arles

Created in 1970, the Rencontres d'Arles is the world’s most renowned photography festival. A cultural incubator, it is as close as possible to artists and an annual X-ray of photographic creation combined with a festive spirit. Echoing and promoting artistic practices, the Rencontres d'Arles presents works by 250 artists and curators every year at 40 exhibitions at heritage sites transformed for the occasion. The festival reveals trends, opens new paths, deciphers images, produces meaning and generates content for an ever-growing audience.

 

For more information

Visit the Women In Motion Press area

 

Follow the official hashtags
#WomenInMotion #Kering

 

Press Contact Kering

Emilie Gargatte +33 (0)1 45 64 61 20
emilie.gargatte@kering.com 
Eva Dalla Venezia +33 (0)1 45 64 65 06
eva.dallavenezia@kering.com

 

Press Contact the Rencontres d’Arles

Claudine Colin Communication | +33 (0) 1 41 02 60 01
Alexis Gregorat | alexis@claudinecolin.com
Marine Maufras du Chatellier | marine.m@claudinecolin.com