On the occasion of Paris Photo, Mars presents the Australian artist Atong Atem.
Recently nominated for the 2025 Madame Figaro Photography Prize, which recognizes women photographers, Atong Atem presents a new photographic series, printed in Australia on velvet.
The MARS gallery is presenting the series “This Happened To You” at Paris Photo 2025, from November 13 to 16. This event marks a significant milestone, as it is the first participation of both the MARS gallery and Atong Atem in one of the most renowned international fairs dedicated to photography, held at the Grand Palais in Paris.
Developing her medium, practice, and voice as an Australian artist, “This Happened To You” extends Atem’s exploration of themes of family, lineage, and mythology. Her work reflects the intersection of photography and textiles, a central element of her artistic practice, as well as her analysis of visual culture through the lens of colonial myths and narratives.
Atem is an artist and writer of Ethiopian and South Sudanese descent, living in Naarm/Melbourne, Australia. Atong is a former refugee who arrived in Australia as a child, and much of her work is influenced by the profound impact of her childhood spent in this country. As an artist, she recounts her deeply personal narratives of identity, migration, and diasporic culture in works that resonate far beyond their origins.
The work “This Happened To You” draws inspiration from the imagery of the Rider-Waite tarot deck to tell personal and intimate experiences through the tradition of tarot. This series questions the universality of stories, the concept of destiny, and the capacity of visual media to be infinitely malleable. These tarot-inspired textiles mark the beginning of a series that Atem will continue to explore.
