Circulation(s) Festival has been spotlighting the work of emerging European photographers since 2011. For its 16th edition, the event returns to Centquatre-Paris, bringing together 26 artists representing 15 different nationalities. Selected through an open call, there is no overarching theme; instead, key strands emerge – memory, identity, ecology and political tension – capturing what matters most to young practitioners today. This year, there’s an additional focus on Irish talent. Here, we highlight five to know.
Matevž Čebašek, In the Mountains, the Sun is Shining
Matevž Čebašek’s (b. 1995) intimate body of work, In the Mountains, the Sun is Shining, surveys the fragile and unreliable nature of memory. The project is dedicated to the artist’s grandmother, who lived through communism in Slovenia and now has dementia. The series navigates her life, delving into both personal albums and official Slovenian records to establish “a counter-archive that transcends a singular interpretation.” The series comprises various photographic methods, as well as oral and written histories.
In Do-li-na, Davide Degano (b. 1990) turns attention to Friuli-Venezia Giulia, “a region where Italian, Slovenian, Friulian and German cultures meet.” The series was inspired by the rediscovery of his grandmother’s Slovenian heritage, which had been concealed for years by fascist “Italianisation” politics. Do-li-na examines how, in these valleys, landscapes, myths and oral traditions have preserved stories that official history omits. It asks: how do images and archives determine what is passed on or erased?
Marine Billet (b. 1991) is a Paris-based photographer whose work combines documentary realism with staging. For Reliées, the artist “turned to Generation Z to try and understand how young women today shape their identity. I met Célia, Amaya, Exaucé, Luna and Amina: five young women who opened up about their stories and their doubts. … This project is an ode to the in-between where adolescence leans towards adulthood. It is a tribute to the women we have been, those we are, those we are becoming.”
Maximiliano Tineo, El Rey Blanco
Maximiliano Tineo’s (b. 1988) project El Rey Blanco (The White King) takes its title from a colonial South American legend based on the Cerro Rico de Potosí in Bolivia – one of the most exploited silver mines in history. In El Rey Blanco, Tineo brings the story up to date, connecting it to to the contemporary “lithium triangle” – a region where over 65% of the world’s reserves can be found, located between Argentina, Bolivia and Chile meet. His body of work shows how the same myth still shapes the landscape today.
Dónal Talbot (b. 1995) is a Dublin-based artist whose work explores the theme of queer identity and how personal experiences shape the way we see the world. Becoming is inspired by journalist and activist Jack Babuscio’s concept of the “gay sensibility.” Talbot explains: “I engage with the idea that queerness, shaped by social oppression, also offers a unique way of seeing – one that embraces authenticity beyond imposed social norms.” The series is an “invitation to embrace a broader, freer existence, where identity is never set.”
Circulation(s) runs 21 March – 17 May at Centquatre-Paris.
Words: Eleanor Sutherland
Image Credits:
1. Marine Billet © Réliées
2. Matevž Čebasek © In the Mountains, the Sun is Shining
3. Davide Degano © Do-lin-a
4. Davide Degano © Do-lin-a
5. Marine Billet © Réliées
6. Maximiliano Tineo © El Rey Blanco
7. Maximiliano Tineo © El Rey Blanco
8. Dónal Talbot © Becoming
