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Exhibition - VALPARAÍSO at the FIFV 2023 (Chile)
brigitte grignet
Oct 30, 2023
Opening : October 31st at 6pm
Exhibition : October 31st - December 4th, 2023Parque Cultural de Valparaíso, Cumming 590, Cerro Cárcel, Valparaíso, Chile
Guided visit November 1st at 3 pm
Overview
Last summer, I was invited to Valparaíso for an artist residency. Back in Chile after 10 years, I had to let go of all my expectations and what I was looking for, unconsciously. My experience of Chile is mostly rural. In the South we sit by the fire, and we share maté. We eat (a lot of) potatoes. We share stories of mermaids and navigating souls. This time I had to discover and connect with Valparaíso, a bohemian city, a city that exhibits its colors and scars.
I moved ever so slowly, walking tirelessly. Days were spent waiting for the light. Talking to the lady who sold fish. Retracing my steps.
Facing my feelings. I did not have a specific project but nevertheless, I had a desire: meeting women raising their kids alone. It was a way to echo my own story, to share an experience.
The images don't describe this reality, though. They show time passing by, someone else's presence, inner worlds. Looking at the images, a story is emerging, beyond the geography of a place. Traces of the past, crossroads between the personal and life unfolding, under our eyes.
Fragments of life stay with me: Matias walking Avenida Argentina balancing a book on his head, two boys repairing a kite, Marisol remembering her daughter's childhood, fishermen having breakfast after their morning catch, Floro in the Open City, Barbara and Ana sharing a beer. And then... the ghost footsteps.
To get close, as much as possible. We remain a stranger, but we aim to achieve this state of grace where we face our emotions when inside and outside click together, and when we absorb what is there. A blink of an eye, and there is a flash of life, just in front of us. Between reality and fiction, or even magic, I tried to tell the story of this encounter.
This exhibition is part of the FIFV (Festival de la Fotografia de Valparaíso)
