Géologie des âmes

‘We must learn to read what grows among the ruins.’ — Anna Tsing

Artistic cartographies of life, memory and resistance. ‘Geology of Souls’ explores the idea that our subjectivities are as stratified as the Earth's geology. Each stratum — trauma, heritage, reparation — leaves an imprint. The works brought together here tell stories rooted in the earth, bodies, forests and archives. Between myth and memory, the exhibition brings together voices of artists from diverse backgrounds. From the Anthropocene to forest rituals, from intimate portraits to decolonial struggles, each work becomes a space for storytelling and reparation. Inspired by Achille Mbembe, these artists ask: how can we inhabit a damaged world? And how can we forge new bonds with the living, the forgotten, the absent?

Stratifications of life: contemplate, archive, resist

This first movement examines the human impact on the planet through a sensitive reading of the Anthropocene. The works seek to re-enchant the world through observation, archiving and poetic distancing. Anaïs Tondeur documents the irradiated areas of Chernobyl through cyanotypes created with Michael Marder and Martin Hajduch. She engages in dialogue with Hiroshi Sugimoto, whose desert images bear witness to a civilisation in ruins. Stefan Sehler, meanwhile, blurs the boundaries between photography and painting, questioning our representations of reality. Together, these artists evoke Anna Tsing's ‘fragmented Anthropocenes’.

Forest, animality, rituals: sacred life

This chapter explores the spiritual and ritual connection with nature. Forests, rituals and animality become figures of transformation, loss and reconnection. Rikuji Suzuki invokes Shinto animism in a primeval forest. Albarran Cabrera, with images printed on gampi paper, evokes a suspended beauty. Nicolas Floc'h reveals submerged seascapes, while Noémie Goudal deconstructs our perceptions of the natural world. Adrian Paci stages gestures of exile imbued with archaic sacredness. Claudine Doury photographs rites of passage in Siberia, between gentleness and harshness. Jörg Bräuer, Gérard Traquandi, Giovanni Ozzola and Karine Rougier each explore the sacred dimension of life in their own way. Together, they extend the reflections of Philippe Descola and Baptiste Morizot on our inter-species alliances.

Intermezzo: Portraits, disappearances, appearances

This moment is a suspended space that offers an introspective journey through portraiture and memory. Jean-François Jaussaud photographs Louise Bourgeois in her studio. Francesca Woodman, Agnès Geoffray and Justine Tjallinks evoke erased bodies, inner conflicts and flashes of light. Rina Banerjee and Karine Rougier explore the invisible links between human and non-human, between ritual and presence. These are works in which subjectivity becomes an intimate layer.

Territories of memory: postcolonial narratives and subjectivities of the Global South

This final chapter examines colonial, diasporic and female memories. Geology becomes an archive of struggles, resistance and survival. Monica de Miranda explores postcolonial memory between Africa and Europe. Raphaelle Peria questions the ruins of Cambodia. Solange Pessoa uses natural pigments to express an animistic connection to the earth. Wallen Mapondera weaves community narratives from discarded materials, echoing Arturo Escobar's thoughts. Lucia Pizzani celebrates knowledge being passed down generations through body and performance. Zanele Muholi reinvents the self-portrait as a queer and black reappropriation. Sama Alshaibi embodies exile and erased identities. Finally, Hector Zamora, with Movimientos emisores, subverts the symbolism of carrying to question the place of women and collective responsibility. A biomorphic sculpture by Alma Allen placed in the centre of the room closes this journey like a silent talisman.

Repairing the strata, telling the story

Through landscapes, gestures and faces, Géologie des âmes asks the question: how can we tell the story of a damaged world without losing ourselves in it? How can we connect the silences, the ruins, the hopes? These works form a constellation of narratives where the living, the political, myth and the intimate intertwine. As Anna Tsing writes, ‘we must learn to live with ruins, to listen to what grows between them, to tell stories with uncertainty.’

Text and curation: Nathalie Guiot

The artists featured in the exhibition are: Alma Allen, Sama Alshaibi, Rina Banerjee, Jörg Bräuer, Albarrán Cabrera, Mathilde Cazes, Monica de Miranda, Claudine Doury, Nicolas Floc’h, Agnès Geoffray, Noémie Goudal, Jean-François Jaussaud, Wallen Mapondera, Zanele Muholi, Giovanni Ozzola, Adrian Paci, Raphaëlle Peria, Solange Pessoa, Lucia Pizzani, Karine Rougier, Hiroshi Sugimoto, Risaku Suzuki, Justine Tjallinks, Anaïs Tondeur, Gérard Traquandi, Francesca Woodman and Hector Zamora.

Works in situ Sylvie Auvray, Rina Banerjee, Victor Cadene, Adrien Vescovi.

Aleor Craft & Bio-design, the gallery initiated by Nathalie Guiot in 2024, offers a curation around Juliette Rougier's practice, her relationship to the ‘collection’ and the Mediterranean territory.

Pop-up ceramic with the works by Beatriz Horta Correia, Graça Pereira Coutinho, Valérie Mannaerts and Suuz Studio.

Exhibition from July 8th to 25th 2025 / Thalie Foundation, Arles