After Paris, Bordeaux and Geneva, the winners of the 2016 HSBC Award are showing their works in the Arsenal in the city of Metz, an opportunity to rediscover the series for which they were awarded the prize as well as some new works. Interview with Michèle Paradon, Artistic Director at the Arsenal.
What place does photography have at the Arsenal?
The Arsenal is above all a concert hall and performance space whose programmes go from traditional music to jazz by way of contemporary dance. Added to that there is a 350 sq m exhibition space that has been dedicated to photography since 2009.
Why photography?
It was what was missing in the city of Metz or even in the whole region: the Pompidou Centre Metz and the heritage museums rarely give photography pride of place. To us it appeared complimentary to what was already here. It also allowed us to make partnerships as was the case with Tania Mouraud whose works were shown jointly by the Pompidou Centre Metz and the Arsenal.
How many exhibitions do you host every year?
Each year we present five exhibitions trying to cover all fields of photography: photojournalism, as was the case with Jean-Pierre Laffont with his analogue images from the 1960s and 1970s and Olivier Jobard’s work on migrants, and also the more artistic works by Eric Rondepierre, and by Corinne Mercadier.
Since when has the Arsenal been a partner of the HSBC Award?
We have been presenting the HSBC winners for eight years now. What is interesting is that each time, the artistic advisor “stamps his or her personality” on the award through a selection that shows the uniqueness of his or her view… This year the offerings are very different with, on the one hand, Marta Zgierska’s intimate work on the trauma she suffered after a car accident and on the other, Christian Vium’s renewal of documentary photography.
The last stage for the 2016 winners, the exhibition at the Arsenal is a little different from those presented earlier at Paris, Bordeaux and Geneva because the winners are both offering new works…
Yes, in an extension to her work, Marta Zgierska has done a series of portraits reflecting her emotional state following her trauma while Christian is showing a film.
How does the public receive these exhibitions?
The HSBC exhibitions are highly anticipated events, without doubt because of the diversity of the offerings that surprises the audience each time. We also organise meetings with the students from the Condé School of Photography in Nancy, and the Metz School of Art, as well as students from the Second Chance School, which brings together young people between the ages of 16 and 25 years who have dropped out of the school system. This year the meetings with Marta and Christian sparked off some particularly interesting exchanges. The dialogue was immediate!
Interview Sophie Bernard
HSBC Award for Photography
Christian Vium and Marta Zgierska, Winners 2016
From 2nd December 2016 to 8th January 2017
L’Arsenal
3 avenue Ney
57000 Metz
Books
Christian Vium, Villes nomade, text by Diane Dufour and Armelle Choplin, Actes Sud, 20 euros
Marta Zgierska, Post, text by Christian Caujolle, 104 pages, Actes Sud, 20 euros
