Anticipated occurrences at the 2025 assembly in Arles

Anticipated occurrences at the 2025 assembly in Arles

The Arles International Photography Festival, affectionately known as Les Rencontres d'Arles, is set to return for its 2025 edition with a powerful theme - "Disobedient Images." This year's event, taking place in Toulon, France, until October 5, 2025, will focus on photography as a tool for resistance, testimony, and cultural exchange in the face of contemporary social and political crises.

One of the key aspects of this year's festival is its emphasis on Australia and Brazil. The *Counter-Voices* thematic chapter features two significant group exhibitions that explore the cultural and social narratives of these countries. "Ancestral Futures" addresses colonial legacies and struggles faced by Afro-Brazilian, Indigenous, and LGBTQIA+ communities, while "On Country" explores the spiritual and environmental connections of Australian Aboriginal communities to their ancestral lands.

The festival also places a significant spotlight on feminine and queer narratives. The *Counter-Voices* program includes Indigenous women’s and queer artists’ stories, such as Caroline Monnet’s *Echoes from a Near Future*, which amplifies Indigenous women’s voices. Brandon Gercara’s *Magma in the Ocean* presents a transgressive queer narrative from Reunion Island, contributing to the diversity of LGBTQIA+ representation in the festival.

Notable Australian artists featured in On Country include Tony Albert, Brenda Croft, and Lisa Sorgini. Meanwhile, the Brazilian segment of the festival, Ancient Futures, showcases a generation of defiant Brazilian artists, with Denilson Baniwa, Ventura Profana, and Igi Lọlá́ Ayedun among those featured.

Nan Goldin, the recipient of the Kering Women In Motion Prize for Photography 2025, is another highlight of the festival. Her retrospective, one of the highlights of the Family Histories section, presents a deeply personal multimedia installation, *Stendhal Syndrome*, portraying mythological figures and intimate portraits, underscoring feminine presence in photography.

The festival's programming also includes exhibitions of photographers like Letizia Battaglia, Louis Stettner, and Claudia Andujar, who use photography as a means of resistance. Canon returns to Arles with the exhibition "Mouvements et Énergies", open to both amateurs and professionals.

In addition to the exhibitions, the Arles Encounters offers a technical and artistic immersion that extends the festival experience, featuring conferences, photo walks, material demonstrations, and brief encounters, organised by the Fisheye team. Ambassador Aline Deschamps leads guided photo walks during the Arles Encounters.

The Arles photography festival, held for over fifty years, serves as a platform for photography to question the present, providing a unique space for images that challenge dominant histories and power structures, giving space to underrepresented voices from Australia, Brazil, and queer and feminist communities. This year's event promises to be an unforgettable celebration of photography as a medium for social transformation and cultural reinvention.

References: [1] Arles 2025 Official Website. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.rencontres-arles.com/en/2025/ [3] Hyperallergic. (2023, March 10). The Arles International Photography Festival Announces Its 2025 Program. Retrieved from https://hyperallergic.com/758881/the-arles-international-photography-festival-announces-its-2025-program/ [5] The Art Newspaper. (2023, March 15). Arles photography festival to focus on 'disobedient images' in 2025. Retrieved from https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2023/03/15/arles-photography-festival-to-focus-on-disobedient-images-in-2025

When planning their travels, photography enthusiasts might consider incorporating the Arles International Photography Festival into their itinerary, as it promises to showcase "Disobedient Images" and highlight underrepresented voices from Australia, Brazil, and queer and feminist communities. In-flights to Toulon, France, for the festival, running until October 5, 2025, could be a valuable addition to one's lifestyle, offering an immersion into the art world and a platform for photography as a medium for social transformation and cultural reinvention.

Read also: