The 22nd annual Photobiennale in Greece opened in Thessaloniki on May 9th. The theme of this year’s festival is Logos (“Speech”), the conclusion of a thematic trilogy with Topos (2008) and Chronos (2011). Throughout the city, visitors will find over 1,000 photographs taken by 100 Greek and foreign photographers from 23 different countries. This year’s festival explores the boundaries between the imaginary and the real, as well as the boundaries of photography itself.
At the Museum of Photography in Thessaloniki is an extract from a wonderful series by the French-Moroccan photographer Carolle Benitah, Photos souvenirs. Through eight images taken from the series, the artist revisits memories from her childhood using photos from old family albums depicting lost moments of the past. Then she digitized the images and set about altering them. “I decided to explore the memory of childhood because it allows me to understand who I am and what defines my identity today,” says Benitah.
The last step involved needlework, embroidery and beading, which have played a role in her family’s history. “Embroidery is an important part of the environment where I grew up. Girls from good families learn sewing and embroidery, activities reserved for the perfect woman. My mother sewed her own trousseau.”
Through these needle games, Benitah reinterprets her own life, defying our expectations of her. She tells us her own version and vision of these two moments from her life. Red thread is used for childhood, black for adolescence and gold for adulthood. By embroidering her life, she creates a new imagery dispelling her past fears and bringing up to date the cultural representations of the traditional role of women.
Soon viewers will be able to discover more recent images from the third part of the work: adulthood.
EXHIBITION
Carolle Benitah
Until July 30, 2014
22th Photo Biennale in Thessaloniki
Greece
Carolle Benitah will be also part of a collective exhibition in Marrakech
at the Galerie 127
http://www.galerienathalielocatelli.com/galerie127/Galerie.127.html
Carolle Benitah : http://www.carollebenitah.com
Biennale : http://www.thmphoto.gr/?p=5469&lang=EN
