RITUALS by NEAR

Thomas Rousset and Raphaël Verona, from the series Waska Tatay, 2010-2012

Rituals An exhibition by NEAR at the Ferme-Asile, Sion November 8, 2014 – February 1, 2015 Curator NEAR: Corinne Currat, assisted by Noémie Richard Curator Ferme-Asile: Véronique Mauron

NEAR • swiss association for contemporary photography • www.near.li

NEAR | Rituals

Informations

Theme

Sacred and profane rites – ancestral and contemporary – are examined through staging, documentary approaches, and performance.

Artists

Emmanuelle Antille (1972, CH) Sophie Brasey (1985, CH) * David Favrod (1982, CH) Matthieu Gafsou (1981, CH/FR) * Anne Golaz (1983, CH) * Thierry Kupferschmid (1970, CH) * Christian Lutz (1973, CH) * Jen Osborne (1984, CA) Virginie Rebetez (1979, CH) * Germinal Roaux (1975, CH/FR) * Thomas Rousset (1984, FR) * and Raphaël Verona (1984, FR) * Members of NEAR

Curators

NEAR : Corinne Currat, assisted by Noémie Richard Ferme-Asile : Véronique Mauron

Organisation

A proposition by NEAR realised at the Ferme-Asile

Venue

Ferme-Asile, Centre artistique et culturel, Sion

Dates, opening hours

Opening on Saturday November 8, 2014 at 6pm Exhibition from November 8, 2014 until February 1, 2015 Opening hours: We 12pm until 06pm Tu-Sa 12pm until 20pm Su 12pm until 03pm

Contacts

Corinne Currat, corinne.currat@gmail.com Véronique Mauron, veronique.mauron@ferme-asile.ch

Institution

Noémie Richard, President of NEAR noemie.elise.richard@gmail.com NEAR, P.O. box 6989, 1002 Lausanne, www.near.li Véronique Mauron, historian of art (Ph.D) and curator veronique.mauron@ferme-asile.ch Ferme-Asile, Centre artistique et culturel, Promenade des Pêcheurs 10, (CH) 1950 Sion, www.ferme-asile.ch

Médias

Noémie Richard, noemie.elise.richard@gmail.com Véronique Mauron, veronique.mauron@ferme-asile.ch

Catalogue

A catalogue, edited by NEAR and the Ferme-Asile will be published as the companion to the exhibition. Texts by Corinne Currat, historian of art and exhibition manager at the Fondation de l'Hermitage, in Lausanne, Véronique Mauron, historian of art (Ph. D) and curator at the Ferme-Asile, and the anthropologist Marco Motta, graduate assistant and lecturer at the University of Lausanne.

NEAR • association suisse pour la photographie contemporaine • www.near.li • info@near.l

NEAR | Rituals

Anne Golaz, from the series Chasses, 2009-2010

Presentation of the exhibition Since time immemorial, rites and rituals accompany the lives of human beings in all societies, helping to forge the identity of communities and groups. Our exhibition project proposes an artistic approach to the question. It gathers works from photographers and video artists who are members of the association NEAR, along with guests. Sacred and profane rites – ancestral and contemporary – are examined through staging, documentary approaches, and performance. If many of the artists deal with the mystery and symbolism peculiar to specific rites, rituals and ceremonies, even cultivating or enhancing them, some take distance from them with humour and irony. Christian religion and its rites are the subject matters of the photographers Matthieu Gafsou and Christian Lutz. With his series Sacré, Matthieu Gafsou addresses ritual of the Catholic Church in the canton of Fribourg. From the perspectives of architecture, sacred art and clergymen, he presents a vision of a church in decline. On the contrary, In Jesus' Name (2012) by Christian Lutz documents the fervour of believers in the International Christian Fellowship (ICF) near Zürich. Anne Golaz, Jen Osborne and the duo Thomas Rousset and Raphaël Verona address the issue of profane and pagan rites in Switzerland, Europe and South America. Since 2009, the hunt is the main subject of Anne Golaz. For Chasses (2009-2010) and Metsästä (2012), she followed on the tracks of hunters in the areas of Fribourg, Strasbourg and Finland. The culture and the secular rites of hunters allow her to underline the relationship between man and nature in a world oscillating between the real and the supernatural.

NEAR • association suisse pour la photographie contemporaine • www.near.li • info@near.l

NEAR | Rituals

David Favrod, from the series Gaijin, 2009 – 2012

Jen Osborne, Canadian photographer based in Berlin since 2010, is fascinated by a phenomenon spread in Europe, and particularly in the old RDA: the historical restitution of Native American life. During camps lasting several days, passionate fans of Amerindian culture – Indian Hobbyists – recreate the teepees, the costumes, the food and the ceremonies of native peoples, leaning on sources from the 19th century, historical records and popular movies.

Waska Tatay (2010-2011) by Thomas Rousset and Raphaël Verona could also be viewed as the result of a documentary on a community or an ancestral tribe in South America. In fact, their photographs are entirely staged, playing with the thin line between reality and fiction. The construction of identity, the sense of belonging to a community, the rites of passage and of initiation are at the heart of the works of Germinal Roaux, David Favrod, Virginie Rebetez, Thierry Kupferschmid and Emmanuelle Antille. With nostalgia, Germinal Roaux scrutinizes teenagers during their spare time. He captures the codes and behaviours which govern their passage from childhood through adulthood. Japan, David Favrod’s country of origin, is an endless source of inspiration where traditions and ancestral rites are omnipresent. His last series takes its name from the popular oral game "Hyakumonogatori Kaidankai" (A gathering of one hundred weird tales). The players gather at nightfall, light one hundred candles, and narrate "kaidans" (weird tales). After each story, a candle is extinguished. When the last flame is blown out, the time has come to invoke a supernatural being. For this ambitious project, Favrod intends to stage 99 stories. During an artist residency in South Africa last Spring 2013, Virginie Rebetez carried on her research on the concept of identity, memory and rituals. In Avalon, the big cemetery of Soweto, she was particularly interested in the period of transition between two funeral rites: the burial and the ceremony of unveiling. She took photographs of unusual funerary monuments, packed with different materials. The family of the dead traditionally uncovers these gravestones during the ceremony of unveiling in order to honour the memory of the deceased and celebrate his life after death. By decontextualizing and sublimating the veiled monuments, Rebetez produces a portrait of the dead and his family.

NEAR • association suisse pour la photographie contemporaine • www.near.li • info@near.l

NEAR | Rituals

Thierry Kupferschmid, from the series Another type of Ambiguity, 2009

Exploring the relationship between man and nature through performance, Thierry Kupferschmid plunges us into his strange, poetic, and spectacular artistic world. In the quest of self-transcendence, he stages rituals, more often related to water and earth, which he documents with photography and video. In the woods and in all weathers, he confronts his body with the force of natural elements. The video maker Emmanuelle Antille examines the relationships between the members of small social groups such as the teenagers and the family. In several videos, she captures the behaviour, the gestures and the rituals accomplished by the protagonists – usually friends and relatives – to create narratives oscillating between reality and fiction. Her video Even if We Fall (2007) shows the close relationship between a daughter and her family (played by the artist and her parents). The artist films a ritual during which the daughter donates her hair to her mother, addressing the notion of love and sacrifice inside the family. Finally, with the series Dimanche, Sophie Brasey is interested by the everyday life and the leisure practised on Sunday. Away from the place of worship, she observes micro-rituals which allow the individual to be included in the family or friend circles: a walk along the lake, a friend gathering around a car, a family meal. As stated the English anthropologist Mary Douglas in 1966: "man is a ritual animal. If ritual is suppressed in one form it crops up in others."

NEAR • association suisse pour la photographie contemporaine • www.near.li • info@near.l

NEAR | Rituals

Germinal Roaux, de la série Never Young Again, 2009 – en cours

Publication Publication directed by Corinne Currat 500 copies, 16 x 24 cm, 64 pages, 39 photographs, French, CHF 12.Publishers

NEAR, Lausanne, and the Ferme-Asile, Sion

Authors

Corinne Currat, historian of art and exhibition manager at the Fondation de l'Hermitage, Lausanne Véronique Mauron, historian of art (Ph. D) and curator at the Ferme-Asile, Sion Marco Motta, anthropologist and graduate assistant at the University of Lausanne

Artists

Emmanuelle Antille, Sophie Brasey, David Favrod, Matthieu Gafsou, Anne Golaz, Thierry Kupferschmid, Christian Lutz, Jen Osborne, Virginie Rebetez, Germinal Roaux and the duoThomas Rousset and Raphaël Verona

Design

Anne Hogge Duc, Anaho, Lausanne

Photo-offset

Roger Emmenegger, Datatype, Lausanne

Impression

Jean Genoud SA, Le Mont-sur-Lausanne

Table of contents

Preface and acknowledgement, 2 essays and 11 texts about the artists

NEAR • association suisse pour la photographie contemporaine • www.near.li • info@near.l

NEAR | Rituals

Emmanuelle Antille (1972, CH ; lives and works in Lausanne)

Emmanuelle Antille, from the series Angels Camp, 2002-2003

Emmanuelle Antille, Even if We Fall, video, 2007

NEAR • association suisse pour la photographie contemporaine • www.near.li • info@near.l

NEAR | Rituals

Sophie Brasey (1985, CH ; lives and works in Lausanne)

Sophie Brasey, from the series Dimanche, 2008 – ongoing

Sophie Brasey, from the series Dimanche, 2008 – on going

NEAR • association suisse pour la photographie contemporaine • www.near.li • info@near.l

NEAR | Rituals

David Favrod (1982, CH ; lives and works in Spain and in Switzerland)

David Favrod, from the series Hyakumonogatari Kaidankai, ongoing

NEAR • association suisse pour la photographie contemporaine • www.near.li • info@near.l

NEAR | Rituals

Matthieu Gafsou (1981, CH/FR ; lives and works in Lausanne)

Matthieu Gafsou, from the series Sacré, 2011-2012, © Matthieu Gafsou / Courtesy Galerie C

NEAR • association suisse pour la photographie contemporaine • www.near.li • info@near.l

NEAR | Rituals

Anne Golaz (1983, CH ; lives and works in Switzerland and in Finland)

Anne Golaz, from the series Metsästä, From the Woods, 2011-2012

NEAR • association suisse pour la photographie contemporaine • www.near.li • info@near.l

NEAR | Rituals

Thierry Kupferschmid (1970, CH ; lives and works in Lausanne and in New York)

Thierry Kupferschmid, Lines of supply, video, 2007-2008

Thierry Kupferschmid, Another type of Ambiguity, 2011

NEAR • association suisse pour la photographie contemporaine • www.near.li • info@near.l

NEAR | Rituals

Christian Lutz (1973, CH ; lives and works in Switzerland)

Christian Lutz, from the series In Jesus' Name, 2012

NEAR • association suisse pour la photographie contemporaine • www.near.li • info@near.l

NEAR | Rituals

Jen Osborne (1984, CA ; lives and works in Berlin)

Jen Osborne, from the series Indian Me, 2011-2014

NEAR • association suisse pour la photographie contemporaine • www.near.li • info@near.l

NEAR | Rituals

Virginie Rebetez (1979, CH ; lives and works in Lausanne)

Virginie Rebetez, from the series Under Cover, 2013

NEAR • association suisse pour la photographie contemporaine • www.near.li • info@near.l

NEAR | Rituals

Germinal Roaux (1975, FR/CH ; lives and works in Lausanne and Paris)

Germinal Roaux, from the series Never Young Again, 2009 – ongoing

NEAR • association suisse pour la photographie contemporaine • www.near.li • info@near.l

NEAR | Rituals

Thomas Rousset and Raphaël Verona (both 1984, FR/CH ; live and work in Lausanne)

Thomas Rousset and Raphaël Verona, from the series Waska Tatay, 2010-2012

NEAR • association suisse pour la photographie contemporaine • www.near.li • info@near.l

NEAR | Rituals

Curators of the exhibition and authors of the book

Corinne Currat (1976, CH) Co-curator and author Corinne Currat, historian of art, is exhibition manager at the Fondation de l'Hermitage in Lausanne. For the Summer 2014, she coordinates an important exhibition on 19th century American painting. In 2013, she was responsible for the publication Miro, poésie et lumière and Le goût de Diderot, co-produced with the Musée Fabre, in Montpellier. Between 2009 and 2012, she was assistant curator at the Musée de l'Elysée and at the Foundation for the Exhibition of Photography (FEP) in Lausanne. With William A. Ewing and Nathalie Herschdorfer, she collaborated on major international exhibitions and their publications such as regeneration: Tomorrow's Photographers Today, Arnold Newman: Masterclass and Coming into Fashion: A Century of Photography at Condé Nast. She also contributed to a new Dictionary of Photography, edited by Nathalie Herschdorfer, to be published by Thames & Hudson (2014). Since 2013, she is a member of the NEAR committee.

Véronique Mauron (1963, CH) Co-curator and author Veronique Mauron is an Art Historian and holds a PhD in Arts. She leads various projects including art exhibits, research projects, and courses for various institutions. She has been curator at Ferme-Asile since 2009. As curator at The Oskar Kokoschka Foundation of Vevey, she has organised national and international art exhibits of the Austrian artist, exhibits which were accompanied by catalogues. As an independent curator, she has organised art exhibits in different museums such as the Elysee Museum (Le corps évanoui, les images subites, 1999), the Verdan Foundation (Vertiges de l’origine, 2008), and the Historical Museum (Louis Rivier : l’intimité transfigurée (013). All three of these exhibits were held in Lausanne. As a researcher, she has developed interdisciplinary research projects between arts and medical sciences for the F.A.B.E.R. Foundation in Lausanne and the Agalma Foundation in Geneva. She has published numerous scientific articles and books such as Figures de l’idiot (Hazan, 2004), and L’ombre du futur. Clinique de la procréation et mystère de l’incarnation (PUF, 2007). As a teacher, she gives doctoral-level courses at the Architectural Institute of the Swiss Institute of Technology, Lausanne (EPFL) and at the College of the Humanities of EPFL. As an art consultant, she develops plans for art exhibits for the Bureau of Cultural and Artistic Affairs at

NEAR • association suisse pour la photographie contemporaine • www.near.li • info@near.l

NEAR | Rituals

Noémie Richard (1985, CH) Assistant curator Noémie Richard is President of NEAR since 2014. She joined the committee of the association in 2011 and is the artistic director of the NEAR BY NIGHT events. Graduated from the University of Lausanne, Noémie Richard is specialized in contemporary photography and experimental cinema. In 2010-2011, she was an assistant curator at the photography festival Alt. +1000 in Rossinière. Besides, she collaborated on several exhibition projects with the independent curator Nathalie Herschdorfer. During four years, she was a member of the Journées photographiques de Bienne committee. Involved in the organization of the festival, she was also a contributor to its publications.

Marco Motta

(1983, CH/IT)

Author Marco Motta is an anthropologist, graduate assistant and PhD student at the Laboratory of cultural and social anthropology (LACS) of the University of Lausanne. His research focuses on rituals mechanisms put in place to promote the incorporation of spirits in Zanzibar archipelago, where he stayed for several months. The questions of game and theatricality are at the heart of his experience. He is particularly interested in the rhythmic dimension of performance as well as the manifestation of voice. He worked on two short surveys about various theatrical forms on the island of Penang (Malaysia), including the rituals of possession in Taoist temples. His main research topics are rhythm, meaning and perception, voice, acting, writing. Marco Motta created the group Anthropology and Theatre in Lausanne. This think tank allows practical experiments around issues of game, agreement / disagreement in the community and the politics of representation. Group meetings have recently given rise to the collective publication Des accords équivoques. Ce qui se joue dans la représentation published by BSN Press / Publisher Giuseppe Merrone in Lausanne. Along with his anthropological research, he regularly acts and writes poetry.

NEAR • association suisse pour la photographie contemporaine • www.near.li • info@near.l

NEAR | Rituals

NEAR

NEAR was founded in Lausanne in 2009 and aims to promote contemporary photography. The association organizes activities around four main goals -

to promote and disseminate the work of Swiss and Switzerland-based photographers for both confirmed talents and young artists;

to enable cultural exchanges between regions and among professionals in the field of photography (artists, historians, critics, curators, journalists and editors);

to actively contribute to critical thinking on the subject of contemporary photography;

and finally to help increase exposure of Swiss photography to a wider audience.

NEAR operates among other things a website which offers a multidisciplinary platform and artist portfolios; the association also organizes exhibitions, screenings, interviews, conferences and gatherings between professionals. NEAR publishes a monthly newsletter and numerous editorial projects. Activities since 2009 - six collective expositions: Near Documentary (Visions du Réel, Nyon, 2009) ; Innuendo (Villa Dutoit, Genève, 2010) ; The Breath On Our Back (PhotoforumPasquArt, Bienne, 2012) ; Extravaganza − Le corps mis en scène (Théâtre du Crochetan, Monthey, 2013-2014) ; A House for E.D. (Le Commun, BAC, Genève, 2014) ; Rituels (Ferme-Asile, Sion, 2014-2015). - publishing: Cheese Coma (2012-2013), a publication of 65 images, 44 pages, format 24x33 cm ; exhibition catalogues Innuendo and The Breath On Our Back ; 5 postcards (2010) ; a poster A3 (2011) ; a card A5 presenting NEAR (2012) ; a series of monographies (2013-2014). - meeting between professionnals and the public : La photographie documentaire : un siècle de débats, conference by Olivier Lugon, professor at the UNIL (Nyon, 2009) ; Devenir image. Dissolution du réel dans le virtuel ? and Under Influence, two round-table meetings (Musée de l'Elysée, Lausanne, 2010 and 2011) ; Autour du livre d'artiste, two conferences followed by a round-table (Festival Images, Vevey, 2012) ; conferences by Stanley Greene and Valérie Belin (CEPV, Vevey, 2012 and 2013) ; conferences by Vincent Barras and Tilo Steireif (Photoforum-PasquArt, Bienne, 2012) ; portfolio reviews with publishers and curators. - 10 screenings with members of NEAR and 8 events KINETOPHONE (Bourg, Lausanne, 2011-2013), collaborations between musicians and visual artists. Members 131 members of NEAR : 93 artists among them 29 young members ; 9 photography professionals (historians and critics, curators, publishers) ; 21 honorary members (internationaly renowned artists, museums and institutions directors, publishers,...) ; 4 collectives members (institutions) et 4 benefectors (figures 6.6.13). Main partners Loterie Romande (2009-2013) ; Pro Helvetia (2012-2013) ; Canton de Vaud (2012-2013) ; Ville de Lausanne (2013) ; Pour-cent culturel Migros (2009-2012) ; Fondation Casino Barrière de Montreux (2012) ; Ernst Göhner Stiftung (2012) ; Festival Images (2012, 2014).

NEAR • association suisse pour la photographie contemporaine • www.near.li • info@near.l

NEAR | Rituals

La Ferme-Asile

Presentation The Ferme-Asile is a cultural center dedicated to creation, artistic production and transmission. It is an association chaired by Mr. Pierre Rombaldi. It hires a director Isabelle Pannatier, a curator Véronique Mauron, a music programmer David Michaud, two assistants, an accountant, a housekeeper. It is supported by: Ville de Sion, Canton du Valais, Loterie Romande, Bourgeoisie de Sion, Raiffeisen Bank, Pourcent culturel Migros, BEA Foundation for Young Artists, Provins, Imprimerie Schmid, Contributions of Friends of the Ferme-Asile, rental of workshops, a restaurant. For the exhibitions, it is supported by various cultural partners: Sandoz Family Foundation, Foundation Göhner, Stanley Thomas Johnson Foundation, Pro Helvetia, Fonds municipal d’art contemporain de la Ville de Genève (FMAC), Fonds cantonal d’art du Canton de Genève (FCAC), Label’Art. Vision The Ferme-Asile is a center for the promotion of contemporary art. It is supporting creation in Valais. It is the most important place in Valais, by its infrastructure, project financing, specifically devoted to contemporary art. It takes place in the network of French-speaking art centers. It aims to promote contemporary creation, to initiate a debate on contemporary society and to bring art and audience closer together. Exhibition Desired and designed primarily by a collective of artists, the Ferme-Asile has always sought to encourage and promote creation. Also the concept of "creations in situ " and support to the production of works of art are the pillars of programming. It offers artists a space for experimentation and presentation of large-scale projects. Also working on new curatorial methods, the Ferme-Asile invites young curators to develop innovative projects.To extend exhibitions, the Ferme-Asile publishes regularly exhibition catalogues. Since 2010, it has launched a new collection, the Booklets. Think tank By the specificity of its exhibition space, its multidisciplinary programming as well as infrastructure (including thirteen workshops and international residence), the Ferme-Asile plays the role of a think-tank on artistic creation and its role in today's society. The artists on site and guest artists feed this reflection and enable critical debate. Art and creativity are not only mirror of the state of the world, but also vision for the society. Educational activities To make accessible contemporary art to audiences (classes, children, teens, amateurs, public) and allow them to participate actively in the debates raised by the exhibition, the educational activities are fundamental. The Ferme-Asile has already developed a priority sector. Pioneering and experimental, she was selected by Pro Helvetia in 2011 to receive one of four national symposia on cultural education. With a team of professionals in the socio-cultural animation, it organizes: - Workshops for classes: workshops on techniques, visual arts, writing, tales - Workshops for children during the holidays - Courses for adults - Theme nights, entitled Saveurs savantes - Conferences and roundtables on issues related to contemporary art - Guided tours with artists - Open doors workshops - The café philo

NEAR • association suisse pour la photographie contemporaine • www.near.li • info@near.l