For the first time in Belgium, the Musée de la Photographie is presenting a collection of works by the French artist Juliette Agnel, who, through several major series of her work, takes the visitor to the threshold of the invisible. Trained in the visual arts and ethno-aesthetics, Juliette Agnel has been travelling the world for over thirty years, using photography and video to convey her vision of the world. By magnifying the majesty of the plant and mineral kingdoms, she reveals what lies beyond reality, summoning in her images the invisible forces that govern the universe. 

Her images both intrigue and captivate. They probe the darkness in Taharqa et la nuit (Taharqa and the night), revealing, against the starry sky, the remains of Sudanese necropolises unearthed from the desert sand. In the series La main de l’enfant (The Child’s Hand), created in the heart of the prehistoric caves of Arcy-sur-Cure, light delicately draws from the deep darkness an ancestral setting shaped by nature. The underground world also offers a mineral spectacle that raises questions about the forces at play when viewed against the Géode de Pulpi (the Pulpi Geode). The plant kingdom is not to be outdone, showcasing the power of the Elements in Forêts-Ancêtres (Forests- Ancestors) or its resilience expressed in the Dahomey Spirit herbarium, which reveals Benin’s unique vegetation, paving the way to the spiritual world of Voodoo. 

Born in 1973, Juliette Agnel lives and works in Paris. Her work centres on landscape, the night and that which escapes the immediate gaze. Since the early 2000s, she has been developing a body of work in which the experience of place takes centre stage. Her photographs have been exhibited in numerous institutions in France and abroad. She has notably presented her work at the Louvre, the Rencontres d’Arles and the Domaine de Chaumont-sur-Loire. In 2023, she was awarded the Niépce Prize. 

Exhibition organised in collaboration with the Galerie Clémentine de la Féronnière, Paris. 

With the support of the French Embassy in Belgium and the Institut français. As part of EXTRA, a programme supporting contemporary French creativity in Belgium.