In the framework of the “Site Surveys” exhibition at ICA Gallery, we are pleased to invite you to a lecture by Véronique Souben, director of the Arles National School of Photography (ENSP), the only art school in France exclusively dedicated to photography.
In her upcoming talk, Véronique Souben will present the interdisciplinary and transnational approaches she is currently supporting and developing within the ENSP. In these approaches, research, experimentation, the “decentering of perspectives,” and new technological and ecological thinking all play a central role in shaping the photographic curatorial discipline. She will also discuss how she is strengthening editorial and curatorial approaches, as well as the question of archives, all of which represent new priorities for the school.
***
Building on her interdisciplinary and European experiences, Véronique Souben was appointed director of the École Nationale Supérieure de la Photographie d’Arles in 2023. She previously spent over ten years directing the FRAC Normandie Rouen (Regional Fund for Contemporary Art). There, she spearheaded an active photography policy through solo exhibitions of French renowned photographers such as Gilles Saussier and Isabelle Le Minh, as well as international artists like Geert Goiris, Anne Collier, and Darren Almond. She also curated major thematic exhibitions dedicated to the medium, such as “Can Photography Be Taught?” and “Photography Put to the Test of Abstraction,” which she complemented with symposiums and publications. Before specializing in photography, Véronique Souben collaborated with French and German institutions such as the Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, the Centre Pompidou, the Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin, and the Meymac Art Center.
The lecture will be held in English.
For more information about ENSP, please visit www.ensp-arles.fr.
