From July 1st to September 29th, 2024, Institute Contemporary presents its inaugural exhibition, On the Vastness of our Identities, at Les Rencontres d’Arles, featuring diverse perspectives on Afro-European identities through photography. Join for the accompanying panel discussion with the artists and the Allianz Foundation network. Artists: Verdiana Albano, Delal Ayivi, Ange-Frédéric Koffi, Monika Ribeiro, MAryam Touzani

Founded by Allianz Foundation Fellow Verdiana Albano, Institute Contemporary aims to create a network and support system for artists with Afro-European identities. The initiative highlights the systemic barriers these artists encounter in their production and presentation processes.

Institute Contemporary, founded in 2023, aims to offer exhibitions, seminars, readings, and talks to promote the visibility of Afro-European perspectives. As part of this mission, the organization curates its first exhibition at Les Rencontres d’Arles 2024 in Arles, France, showcasing the work of five artists under the title of On the Vastness of our Identities.

Alongside the works of photographer and sculptor Verdiana Albano, the exhibition features emerging artists from various media disciplines: Delal Ayivi, a fashion photographer and co-founder of Togo Yeye, supporting and representing Togolese artists; Ange-Frédéric Koffi, whose work focuses on the complex articulation of movement; writer and YouTuber Monika Ribeiro, bridging cultural differences and exploring the nuanced complexity of identity; and MAryam Touzani, delving into intercultural identity and the desire to belong.

On the Vastness of our Identities reveals the differences and similarities between the exhibited artists through their unique lenses and thoughts. While the exhibition offers a diverse range of photographic genres, it emphasises how existing narratives can be changed and how their own redefined identity can find a place in global society.

Alongside the exhibition, three artists – MAryam Touzani, Ange-Frédéric Koffi, and Verdiana Albano – as well as Eritrean-Italian filmmaker Ariam Tekle, will participate in a panel discussion on July 4th (6PM) at the venue of the Manuel Rivera-Ortiz Foundation.

Moderated by Amandine Nana, researcher, curator at the Palais de Tokyo and founder of Transplantation Project, this discussion will explore current Afro-European both, artistic and institutional identities and their impacts within the lens-based fields.

The panel discussion, conducted in English, will take place in the presentation room on the ground floor of the Manuel Rivera-Ortiz Foundation, directly ahead after the entrance.

institutecontemporary.com