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3. Revisited Photographs: The Emotional Journey of Rima Samman

Rima Samman, a French-Lebanese photographer and filmmaker, is presenting "Love Worn Around the Neck", a captivating exhibition blending memory, identity, and contemporary art. The exhibition is on display at the Regard Sud gallery in Lyon until January 18, 2025.

In harmony with the 17th Lyon Biennale of Contemporary Art, dedicated to welcoming the Other and exploring human relationships in all their forms, the Regard Sud gallery is hosting "Love Worn Around the Neck" by French-Lebanese photographer and filmmaker Rima Samman. This artistic event, which began on November 21, 2024, offers an intimate and poetic dive into the artist's family history through a collection of reinvented photographs.

Rima Samman draws from her own family’s photographic archives to create works that are both deeply personal and universally resonant. The exhibition showcases identity photos and group snapshots carefully selected from her family album. These images, relics of a bygone era, are transformed through a manual colorization technique that breathes new life into them. However, the artist's interventions go beyond colorization. A true visual storyteller, Rima Samman reimagines the compositions, alters the images, and adds unexpected elements. These gestures, infused with humor and tenderness, allow the artist to preserve her family memory while questioning our tendency to reinvent our origins.

This exhibition is part of the 17th Lyon Biennale of Contemporary Art, whose central theme celebrates the welcoming of the Other and the diversity of human relationships. Rima Samman’s works resonate with this theme by exploring family rituals and the role of memories in shaping identity. The exhibition’s title, "Love Worn Around the Neck", evokes both the intimacy of family relationships and the way we carry the bittersweet weight of our memories. Through her works, the artist invites visitors to reconnect with their own stories and reflect on how memories, whether real or imagined, shape their sense of self and origins.

Beyond aesthetics and technique, Rima Samman’s work stands out for its emotional depth. By breathing new life into cherished, departed loved ones, the artist does more than preserve her family memory—she leaves behind a lasting artistic imprint for future generations. This approach, marked by a joyful ambivalence, reflects the complexity of family bonds and how they shape our identity.

"Love Worn Around the Neck" is an invitation to revisit our own family albums with fresh eyes. By reinventing images of the past, Rima Samman reminds us that memories are not static; they evolve and transform over time, just like the stories we build around them.

Whether you are a Lyon resident or just passing through, don’t miss this unique encounter with art and memory, on display until January 18, 2025, at the Regard Sud gallery. Admission is free, and this exhibition, inaugurated on November 21, offers a poignant testimony to how art can transcend the boundaries between the personal and the universal.