ARLES 2018

A huge thank you to all our partners who helped bring this adventure to life and to all the people who came to visit CONTEMPLATION!

“One of the great successes of this edition of the Rencontres d’Arles.”
— LE POINT —

“This construction is a mervel!”
— TÉLÉRAMA —

“CONTEMPLATION reveals the ‘happy collusion’ of two creative minds.”
— IDEAT —

“A series of photos that invites to contemplation and a majestic building”
— LE PARISIEN —

“A journey towards serenity and beauty of the world.”
— PSYCHOLOGIES MAGAZINE —

50,000 visitors between July 2nd and September 23rd, 2018

The official catalogue is one of the best-selling cultural books of the summer

More than 200 quotes in the press

3,500 spectators during the two evenings with Maria João Pires and Matthieu Ricard at the Théâtre Antique

The Rencontres d’Arles welcomed CONTEMPLATION and became the first step of this itinerant project which has been designed to travel the world.

This monumental installation has been set on the banks of the Rhône, facing the old city of Arles. From July 2 to September 23, CONTEMPLATION was part of the program of this international photography festival and 50,000 visitors came to discover this exhibition – one of the must-see of the 2018 edition.

CONTEMPLATION also presented a creative encounter between classical music and meditation in the historical center of Arles: the Antique Theater. On July 28th and 29th, 2018, a dialogue between Matthieu Ricard and Maria João Pires came to life during the two evenings Art of Fugue and Art of Meditation. The pianist performed pieces by Johann Sebastian Bach and Franz Schubert, interspersed with interventions by the Buddhist thinker and monk. This natural conversation has been the place for an intense and intimate experience leading us towards altruism and kindness; an artistic reflection on some of the important values of our time.

LEAFLET