Events
Les Rencontres d'Arles presents exhibition titled "Sortilèges" at the MRO Foundation
joan alvado
Aug 6, 2025
Summary
After several years of working in topics like magic, withcraft or the supernatural, I’m so happy and excited to exhibit my project “Os Batismos da Meia-Noite” in the MRO Foundation, within the program of Les Rencontres d'Arles of this year. The project will be shown as a part of a collective exhibition: “Sortilèges”.
I am grateful to Florent Basiletti for the invitation to be part of this, and to all the MRO team for making it happen. The show is curated by Fahr021.3.
And what is “Sortilèges” about? Quoting MRO:
“ (...) a captivating exploration of mystery, magic, and occult worlds. This program invites visitors to cross the threshold of the invisible, delve into the unknown, and question beliefs that defy reason. Between shadow and light, ancient rites, legends, and mystical forces intertwine. Boundaries waver, giving way to a universe where the strange and the marvelous merge. (...)"
The exhibition can be visited in the MRO Foundation until the 5th of October of 2025.
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INFORMATION
Manuel Rivera-Ortiz Foundation
July 7 - October 5, 20259:30 AM - 7:30 PM
Joan Alvado (1979), Ian Cheibub (1999), Maja Daniels (1985), Alexandre Dupeyron (1983), FREELENS, Weronicka Gęsicka (1984), Jann Höfer (1986), INLAND, Laif, Martin Lamberty (1991), Laura Lafon Cadilhac (1989), Silvia Prió (1972), Virginie Rebetez (1979), Wlad Simitch (1982), The Reporters with Taiwanese photographers and Ann-Christine Woehrl (1975).
In 2025, the Manuel Rivera Ortiz Foundation celebrates its 10th anniversary at the Blain Hotel with a captivating exploration of mystery, magic and occult worlds. This program invites us to cross the threshold of the invisible, to probe the unknown, to question beliefs that defy reason. Between shadow and light, ancient rites, legends, and mystical forces intertwine. Boundaries waver, giving way to a universe where the strange and the marvelous merge. Each exhibition becomes a passage, a resonance of hidden traditions, an immersion in the elusive. Far from certainties, this sensory journey opens the doors of the imagination and reveals the aura of mystery.
Through the figures of the Black Virgin, Saint Sara, and Mazu in Taoism, the program questions these popular beliefs which, between devotion and marginality, transcend cultures and eras. Fotohaus amplifies this program with the theme Kontroverse and Paradox, inviting visitors to explore the tensions and contradictions that arise when beliefs confront reality. In a French and European society marked by rationalism, spirituality often remains relegated to the periphery of the dominant discourse, oscillating between fascination and rejection.
Curators: Anne-Marie Beckmann, Gilles Cargueray, FAHR 021.3, Emmanuelle Hascoët, Klaus Kehrer, David Kern, Glaucia Nogueira, Heike Ollertz, Mao Petersen, Anja Pinter-Rawe, Thomas Pirot.
Artistic direction: Florent Basiletti.
Publication: Sortilèges , Odyssée, 2025.
SORTILÈGESJoan Alvado (1979), Ian Cheibub (1999), Maja Daniels (1985), Alexandre Dupeyron (1983), FREELENS, Weronicka Gęsicka (1984), Jann Höfer (1986), INLAND, Laif, Martin Lamberty (1991), Laura Lafon Cadilhac (1989), Silvia Prió (1972), Virginie...
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