Images de l’exil

Coming from very far away, some images have durably shaped our imagination: those of the exile, the refugee or the migrant, participate in this structuring and are thus part of our mental heritage. Their diffusion was ensured by tales and legends, by songs, prayers and nursery rhymes, but also by visual representations which, over time, have defined their contours. Religions have provided the necessary narratives for the construction of a powerful iconography of exile. Adam and Eve driven out of Paradise, The Flight into Egypt, The Exodus, are all examples that Duccio, Giotto, Masaccio or Fra Angelico… will paint on the walls of churches or monasteries.

In the mad acceleration that characterizes modern times, emerges a considerable iconography of flight, wandering and exclusion, caused by wars, regimes of terror or shortage. Painters and photographers, from Marc Chagall to Robert Capa, have taken up the subject and have included in their works these “history dropouts” whose fate is as uncertain as it is trying. The videos and installations of many contemporary artists question a phenomenon that continues to grow in scope. Mona Hatoum, Francis Alÿs, Kimsooja, Adrian Paci, Mohamed Bourouissa, Barthélémy Toguo, Zineb Sedira… and many others, produce works rich in meaning in which the notions of borders and identity are the subject of a treatment that can fluctuate between the documentary and the fictional and poetic narrative.