Dating back to 1996, Voies Off is the large and well-respected alternative to the official Rencontres d’Arles programme. Now backed by Leica, Voies Off is staging nearly 150 exhibitions from 03 July – 24 September, all of which are free to enter, plus a week of screenings, masterclasses, awards and portfolio reviews in the opening week, from 03 – 08 September, from its base in the Cour de l’Archevêché courtyard. The courtyard, off the Place de la République, also hosts parties, held every night from midnight in the opening week.
The Prix Voies Off, in which about 60 artists selected from 1797 entries, are screened each night at 10pm from tonight, and the winner announced on 08 July. Also included in the screenings are projections of the three Leica Oskar Barnack Award finalists, and a tribute to Polka magazine on its 10th anniversary. The masterclasses are this year led by Klavdij Sluban and Jacob Aue Sobol.
The exhibitions include a solo show by Sanne De Wilde called The Island of the Colorblind, which is presented by the Circulation(s) festival, and a solo show by Aue Sobol called With and Without You, a selection of works made over the last 20 years, after the death of his father. https://voies-off.com/
Diane Smyth is the editor of BJP, returning for a second stint on staff in 2023 - after 15 years on the team until 2019. As a freelancer, she has written for The Guardian, FT Weekend Magazine, Creative Review, Aperture, FOAM, Aesthetica and Apollo. She has also curated exhibitions for institutions such as The Photographers Gallery and Lianzhou Foto Festival. You can follow her on instagram @dismy