Imagine fleeing your country and leaving behind your family, friends and everything familiar to travel across borders and demarcation lines by foot and by sea, headed toward lands unknown. That is the reality of exile.
Over 300 images from the photojournalists of Magnum Photos tell the story of migration: walking, waiting, uncertainty, fear…and hope. Work from the agency’s historical greats – including Robert Capa, Werner Bischof and Raymond Depardon – is displayed alongside that of contemporary photographers shooting on the ground.
From the Spanish Civil War to the Vietnam War, from the conflict in the former Yugoslavia to the one in the Middle East and the arrival of refugees at Europe’s door, the exhibition plunges the visitor into a riveting documentary exploration of our world and humanity, calling into question notions of territoriality, geopolitics, economic context and mental boundaries.
EXILE brings the journey to life through a bold exhibition design that departs from traditional displays. Visitors are invited to physically handle the photographs, creating a completely different relationship to the images and lives of the people represented.
Last but not least, works of contemporary art from the National Museum of Immigration History in Paris serve to broaden the discussion and offer a range of insights into the exhibition’s subject matter.