FESTIVAL OF YOUNG EUROPEAN PHOTOGRAPHY

Circulation(s) is the festival dedicated to emerging photography in Europe. Each year, at the Centquatre-Paris and satellite sites in France and abroad, it reveals the vitality of young creation and speaks for the diversity of photographic expressions through unique exhibitions and events.

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A stepping stone for artists, a prospective and innovative laboratory of contemporary creativity, CIRCULATION(S) has become, over the past 10 years, a must-attend photography event and a trend revelator.
This year, Audrey Hoareau, an independent curator, has been appointed as the art director to work in close collaboration with the CIRCULATION(S) art committee.
This special edition will present: 300 artworks, 45 artists, 39 projects, 16 nationalities, performances, events and surprises over 2,000 m2 of exhibition space.

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It is a privilege to speak with young people. What promises are in store for the future? What are the aspirations for tomorrow? Far from being unstable or confused, as they are often accused of, young people know where they are going. Yet, they endure the weight of a paradox from a society that praises youth as much as it fears it. Over the past ten years, CIRCULATION(S) has turned this emergence into a speciality, a unique goal.

As defined by its founder, Marion Hislen, the festival “campaigns for a decompartmentalisation and a confrontation of gazes. It offers a buoyant panorama of European contemporary creation through photography”. With a watchful eye on the sector
and through the examination of hundreds of applications, we have been able to outline this state of play. Faced with such a panorama, I can only come to this conclusion: supported by a creative surge, emerging photography is far from being out of breath. Praised by the world of photography as one of the important events in the field, the festival acts once again as a voice for this generation of photographers from all over Europe.

Bolstered by its success among critics and the public, CIRCULATION(S) owes everything to the artists. Edition after edition, they demonstrate the need for their existence. What would our society be without them? Yet, life as an artist is a tough and unreasonable choice. Today more than ever, it is vital to raise awareness and fight for an acknowledgment of the status and an improvement of photographers’ everyday life. Despite uncertainty, solitude, precariousness, they reveal their thoughts, their messages, their passions… Urged by an indescribable urgency, they have so much to tell us.

This year, 45 artists have been selected. With the help of the art committee and the jury, I have designed a programme inspired by the culture of the 16 nationalities and marked by commitment. With an aim to give a theme to the exhibition, five chapters have been defined to allow a visual harmony and a dialogue between the works. Imponderable or surprising, the various themes highlight stories expressing social injustice and anxiety triggered by tomorrow’s world. Other spaces address the complex issue of identity or that directly linked to the very nature of the medium and formal experimentation.