Arles 2020 day to day by Thierry MAINDRAULT
Friday evening was the opening of all the photographic exhibitions of the Manuel Rivera Ortiz Foundation, under the name “THE PIONEERS”.
The work of Andrea Olga Mantovani “Ils ne savaient pas que c’était impossible alors ils l’ont fait”(They didn’t know it was impossible so they did it) illustrates well the general meaning prevailing for this very special edition of 2020, maintained by the Foundation. This graduate geographer has been involved in photographic expression since 2015, at time she found inside the photographs a determining vector to bear her testimonies. She mainly devotes her activity to issues related to the environment and the social consequences that may ensue.
The exhibition takes up the situation existing following the exploitation of the millennial forest of Bialowieza. This huge area of natural forest is located on the borders of eastern Poland bordering Belarus. This situation has been the subject of major environmental conflicts in recent years.
Through the images presented by Andrea Olga and the stories told that accompany them, we are projected into this very local atmosphere on which weighs a kind of fatalism specific to the old and historical situation of the place and to the mentalities specific to this European region.
Fondation Manuel Rivera Ortiz
18 rue de la Calade
13200 ARLES
July 03 until September 05, 2020 from noon to 7 pm
