du 15 avril au 9 juin 2022
au 18 rue de la Calade — Arles
This exhibition The Dignity of Gypsies gathers photographs taken by Christine Turnauer between
2011 and 2016, initially in India – to where we can trace back the roots of the Gypsies, then in
Eastern Europe, where her travels took her to Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Kosovo and Montenegro.
The different trades photographed create a bridge between the Indian nomads and the Gypsies of
Eastern Europe. All her travels have given rise to inspiring and moving photographs.
On the second floor, this exhibition also presents a Homage to my friends Gitanos with photographs taken mostly in Arles in 2019. During her “Presence” exhibition staged as a co-production between KLV Art Project and the City of Arles’ Culture department in Saint Anne’s Chapel in 2018, the photographer Christine Turnauer forged friendships that inspired her to make a tribute to her friends Gitanos from Arles and the Camargue in this retrospective exhibition of her work on the Gypsies presented at the Manuel Rivera-Ortiz Foundation from April to June 2022.
This personal exhibition brings together almost 125 black and white photographs over the Foundation’s three floors.
Christine Turnauer’s photographs on Gypsies were previously presented for the first time in Austria at the Forum am Schillerplatz in October 2017, with the release of her photo book “The Dignity of Gypsies” published in two languages (English, German) by Hatje Cantz in Europe in 2017 and D.A.P Publishing for the United States in 2018. This book, as well as some collector’s prints, were also exclusively presented in San Francisco (2018, KLV Art Project) and Shanghai (2018, KLV Art Project).
On the second floor, this exhibition also presents a Homage to my friends Gitanos with photographs taken mostly in Arles in 2019. During her “Presence” exhibition staged as a co-production between KLV Art Project and the City of Arles’ Culture department in Saint Anne’s Chapel in 2018, the photographer Christine Turnauer forged friendships that inspired her to make a tribute to her friends Gitanos from Arles and the Camargue in this retrospective exhibition of her work on the Gypsies presented at the Manuel Rivera-Ortiz Foundation from April to June 2022.
This personal exhibition brings together almost 125 black and white photographs over the Foundation’s three floors.
Christine Turnauer’s photographs on Gypsies were previously presented for the first time in Austria at the Forum am Schillerplatz in October 2017, with the release of her photo book “The Dignity of Gypsies” published in two languages (English, German) by Hatje Cantz in Europe in 2017 and D.A.P Publishing for the United States in 2018. This book, as well as some collector’s prints, were also exclusively presented in San Francisco (2018, KLV Art Project) and Shanghai (2018, KLV Art Project).
Christine Turnauer (1946-) started her photographic career in Paris where she apprenticed to various photographers. From 1974 to 1976, she was the assistant to Frank Horvat, and then until 1979 she worked as a freelance photographer. In 1979, she emigrated to Alberta, in Western Canada, where she pursued various photographic projects, the most important one being the portraits of North-American Native Indian traditional dancers.
In 1992, a publication of her work with the title Portraits was published in Canada and in 2019, in Europe and the United States, under the title I saw more than I can tell by Hatje Cantz and D.A.P Publishing. This series of photographs was notably on show at the Weltmuseum in Vienna from May 2021 to January 2022.
Since her return to Europe in 1995, she has traveled to Japan, Romania, Ethiopia, Jerusalem, India, Greece, Turkey, and Mongolia to pursue her photographic work. In 2014, her series of black-and-white portraits from these travels and encounters was published under the title Presence by Hatje Cantz. It was exhibited in Vienna in 2014 and in Arles in 2018 (KLV Art Project and the City of Arles).
Her new photographic project concentrates on the dignity of the Gypsies, which took her to the North-West of India where the roots begin, and then through Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, Montenegro, and Kosovo. The book The Dignity of the Gypsies was published by Hatje Cantz in Europe in September 2017 and D.A.P Publishing for the United States in 2018.
In 2018, during her exhibition Presence in Arles, she was fortunate to meet some of the Gypsies of Arles. They became friends, which inspired her to make a tribute to her friends Gitanos from Arles and from the Camargue region, also on show in this exhibition.
Curator Karine LISBONNE.
Partners KLV Art Projects, Le Forum Culturel Autrichien.
Thanks to our team, to the artist, to the curator and, particularly to the partners of the exhibition.
