Les Rencontres d’Arles
Exhibitions 1st July through 29th September, opening week 1st July – 7th July
In 1970, Arles photographer Lucien Clergue, writer Michel Tournier and historian Jean‑Maurice Rouquette founded the Rencontres d’Arles, an annual photography festival. Between early July and late September, the public is invited to explore 40 exhibitions at various heritage sites throughout the city, from 12th-century chapels and cloisters to 19th-century industrial buildings and contemporary sites.
During the opening week in July, all of Arles ‘lives to the beat of photography’. A place of vibrant exchange, the festival invites the public to join artists and curators for exhibition tours, panel discussions, conferences, book signings and readings.
Graciela Iturbide: Shadowlines
The Photographers’ Gallery, 14th June 2024 – 22nd September 2024
Widely recognised for the poetry and introspection of her images, Graciela Iturbide captures her subjects with depth and sensitivity. Her photography offers a unique perspective on Mexican society, often exploring themes of Mexican culture, identity and belonging, by combining a documentary and humanist approach with an imaginative quality of image making.
Shadowlines includes works from several of her most iconic series, including Juchitán de las Mujeres (1979-1989), focusing on the matriarchal society of the Zapotec people of Tehuantepec, south-eastern Mexico. Having immersed herself in their lives for a decade, her photographs show the strength and vitality of the Juchitán women.
Carrie Mae Weems: Remember to Dream
Hessel Museum of Art, 22nd June 2024 – 1st December 2024
Remember to Dream revisits the range and breadth of Carrie Mae Weems’ prolific career through seldom displayed and lesser-known works that demonstrate the evolution of her pioneering, politically engaged practice.
Moving beyond iconic projects, Remember to Dream seeks to rebalance understanding of Carrie’s artistic development over the past 30 years while locating her work in the context of her own lived experiences and commitment to activism. Ranging from large-scale installations to serial bodies of photography, the works in the exhibition survey significant moments, from the Civil Rights Movement through to the Black Lives Matter movement, through Carrie’s own lens.
Now You See Us: Women Artists in Britain 1520-1920
Tate Britain, 16th May 2024 – 13th October 2024
Spanning 400 years, this exhibition follows women on their journeys to becoming professional artists. From Tudor times to the First World War, artists such as Mary Beale, Angelica Kauffman, Elizabeth Butler and Laura Knight paved a new artistic path for generations of women. They challenged what it meant to be a working woman of the time by going against society’s expectations – having commercial careers as artists and taking part in public exhibitions.
Including over 150 works, the show dismantles stereotypes surrounding women artists in history, who were often thought of as amateurs. Determined to succeed and refusing to be boxed in, they daringly painted what were usually thought to be subjects for male artists: history pieces, battle scenes and the nude.
Africa Rising: 21st-Century African Photography
Fitchburg Art Museum, 24th February 2024 – 23rd February 2025
Africa Rising is the inaugural exhibition of FAM’s new collection of 21st-century Africa photography, a sampling of the recent explosion of fine art photography on the continent. The exhibition includes photographs by internationally acclaimed artists Zanele Muholi (South Africa), Lalla Essaydi (Morocco), and Aida Muluneh (Ethiopia). Themes that recur across this visually stunning show include identity in the aftermath of colonialism, environmental exploitation and decay, women’s empowerment, and Afro-Futurism.
