© Poulomi Basu, From the Centralia series, 2010 – present
Poulomi Basu and François-Xavier Gbré, two winners tied for the Louis Roederer Discovery Award 2020
25/11/2020
Despite the cancellation of the 2020 edition of the Rencontres d’Arles due to the health crisis, the Louis Roederer Foundation decided to maintain the Louis Roederer Discovery Award 2020. The Jury Prize composed of Damarice Amao (Centre Pompidou), Quentin Bajac (Jeu de Paume), Emilie Villez (Kadist), Christoph Wiesner (Rencontres d’Arles) and Marie-Ann Yemsi (independent position commissioner) was awarded to two ex aequo winners: Poulomi Basu and François-Xavier Gbré.
© Poulomi Basu, From the Centralia series, 2010 – present
Poulomi Basu, a transmedia artist, photographer and activist, presented by New Art Exchange and Autograph, lives and works in Calcutta and in London. For the Louis Roederer Discovery Award 2020, she presented “Centralia” which exposes hidden crimes of war deep within the forests of central India where an under reported conflict between indigenous tribal people and the government slowly simmers.
© François-Xavier Gbré, Cité Sinacaci #1, Abidjan, 2013
© François-Xavier Gbré, Piscine #1, Abidjan, 2014
François-Xavier Gbré, artist presented by the gallery Cécile Fakhoury, lives and works in France and Côte d’Ivoire. For the Louis Roederer Discovery Award 2020, the photographer presented the project “Emergence, Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, 2013-2020”, an installation of 57 small-format photographs made in Abidjan. François-Xavier Gbré documents the evolution of the city and its inhabitants by capturing details of an in-depth investigation of urban territory.
The 15,000 euros grant for the Louis Roederer Discovery Award 2020 was shared between the ten finalist projects in solidarity in this exceptional year. The ex aequo winners of the Jury Prize received an additional grant to be awarded on the acquisition of works.