17 May. 2025 to 15 Sep. 2025
Exhibition
Rethinking Photography –EMOP Arendt Award 2025
Following Rethinking Nature and Rethinking Identity, Rethinking Photography, the third instalment in this trilogy and part of the European Month of Photography, marks a significant step in contemporary photographic discourse. The EMOP Arendt Award, established in 2013, is a prestigious distinction for emerging visual artists who are recognised in honour of their exceptional artistic talent and evolving photographic practice.
9:00 am - 6:00 pm
Saturday - Sunday
41A, Avenue John F. Kennedy
L-2082 Luxembourg-Kirchberg
Luxembourg
About theexhibition
Emerging contemporary artists frequently re-examine historical processes, gender issues, and the power of images to confront the challenges and opportunities of the digital age. By using analogue techniques, light-sensitive materials, and exploring public and personal archives, they create a form of creative resistance against the increasing immateriality being shaped by AI.
In this context, "rethinking photography" becomes an exploration of memory, materiality, and a creative response to an increasingly virtual and artificial world.
FollowingRethinking NatureandRethinking Identity,Rethinking Photography, the third instalment in this trilogy and part of the European Month of Photography, marks a significant step in contemporary photographic discourse.
French photographer and visual artistSylvie Bonnotbrings a tactile dimension to photography by engaging directly with the physical substance of images. She peels the gelatin layer from her photographs and applies it to various surfaces, creating what she calls "skins." Inspired by nature, particularly forests, her sculptural, tactile works offer a new perspective on photography through a wide array of hybrid creations.
Berlin-based artistMarta Djourina, originally from Sofia, uses light phenomena as a medium in her photographic practice. Drawing on historical techniques, she explores the concept of touch by creating photographic performances, transferring movements directly onto photo paper with various mobile light sources. Through this gestural, almost painterly approach, she breathes energy into the photographic process.
In his series Zer-Störung, German-Iraqi artistRaisan Hameed, based in Leipzig, combines abstraction with a painterly aesthetic. He repurposes damaged photos from his family's archive alongside his own images taken in Mosul. This "alternative" documentation shifts the focus from iconic representation to materiality, addressing themes of war, destruction, impermanence, and the power of photographic imagery.
Austrian artistSimon Lehnercombines multiple media to reflect on personal experiences of domestic life and emotional trauma. Drawing from personal archives and digital materials, he reconstructs and deconstructs memories and traumatic events through photography, video, and sculptural techniques, blending them into a fragmented narrative.
Portuguese artistPaulo Simãopresents a striking black-and-white series titled Erased, derived from archives in the US Library of Congress. By removing the figures of prominent men from historical monuments, leaving only their pedestals, he highlights the shifting political contexts they represent. This series engages with contemporary debates on ethics, historical knowledge, and collective memory, challenging the way photography represents power and history.
(author: Paul di Felice)
EMOP Arendt Award 2025
TheEMOP Arendt Award, established in 2013, is a prestigious distinction for emerging visual artists who are recognised in honour of their exceptional artistic talent and evolving photographic practice. The award is sponsored by Luxembourg law firm Arendt, which hosts the winners during both the award ceremony and the opening of the exhibition where the works selected by the jury are presented. From the very beginning, the firm has played a key role in promoting photographic art by committing to a policy of acquisition and support for artistic creation in Luxembourg.
AfterRethinking Nature(2021) andRethinking Identity(2023), the EMOP curatorial team has chosen the theme ofRethinking Photographyfor its 2025 edition. From a pool of artistic positions proposed and discussed by the curators of the EMOP network within the framework of this theme, the following five artists, all of whom live and work in Europe, have been nominated for the EMOP Arendt Award 2025: Sylvie Bonnot (Paris), Marta Djourina (Berlin), Raisan Hameed (Leipzig), Simon Lehner (Vienna), and Paulo Simão (Lisbon).
A publication, including monographic booklets, has been published on this occasion by Café Crème asbl.
The members of the jury and curators for this 7th edition were: Paul di Felice, President of EMOP, Rui Prata (Imago Lisboa), Delphine Dumont (Hangar, PhotoBrussels), Mona Schubert and Felix Hoffmann (Foto Arsenal, FotoWien), and Maren Lübbke Tidow (EMOP Berlin).
And the winner of the EMOPArendt Award 2025 is... MartaDjourina!
On 15 May 2025, artist Marta Djourina won the European Month of Photography Arendt Award. Selected by a panel of professional curators, her work was recognised for its creativity, dynamism, and fresh perspective on contemporary photography. Congratulations!
