Next May, a photography festival will take place in Carcassonne. Six locations have been selected to exhibit the work of photographers from the other side of the Mediterranean. A way to create a bridge between France and Morocco.
From May 16 to 31, 2025, the City of Carcassonne will host the 1st edition of the Face à la Mer – Hors les Murs festival. At the initiative of this project, the eponymous association created by Mina Mostefa and Wilfrid Estève, both from Carcassonne and who have been organizing photographic meetings in Tangier for six years now between professionals and young emerging photographers from the Maghreb and the Middle East. -East.
“Face à la Mer is also a workshop where for four days, we provide the keys to technical skills and the photo market”explains Wilfrid Estève, director of the Hans Lucas press agency. This annual event, supported by the French Institute of Morocco, has allowed the emergence of numerous talents over the years: “Some have won prestigious prizes, like Céline Croze, who received the Nadar prize, the equivalent of the Goncourt in photography”underlines Mina Mostefa. The objective of Face à la mer is therefore to highlight these artists from the other side of the Mediterranean, and to allow them to export, in order to bring out a new generation of photographers.
It is in this context that the idea of a Facing the Sea outside the walls was born. And since the two organizers are from Carcassonne, and a Tangier-Carcassonne line opened in 2024, the stars have aligned: “We also had the pleasant surprise of finding a bold and innovative mayor, who goes a little against the grain of current politics”notes Wilfrid Estève.
For two weeks in May, the city will open several places for the exhibition of photos by young artists: the Saint-François-Xavier chapel will host the works of Yzza Saloui and Amine Houari, Place Carnot those of Rime Sabbar , the courtyard of the Town Hall the work of Yassine Selame and Amine Oulmakine, Céline Croze will exhibit at the Dominican Chapel, Leila Alaoui in the courtyard of the Musée des Beaux-Arts and Mehdy Mariouch and Houari Bouchenak will present their photos on Square Gambetta.
Carcassonne schoolchildren involved
The Face à la Mer hors les Murs festival will have a highlight from May 16 to 18, particularly with the involvement of Carcassonne schools, from elementary schools to high schools: “We contacted the city’s schools to ask them to participate, on different themes depending on their level”explains Mina Mostefa. The students will have to present a photographic story in 20 photos, on the theme “Who is my neighbor”.
A work which will be presented on May 16 at the Odeum with the projection of the works and a debate. “The goal is to see how we perceive ourselves on each side of the Mediterranean, to understand our differences, but also what brings us together”underline the organizers. The selected works will be presented to the jury on May 16 and the Discovery Prize will be awarded to one of them. This work will be screened during the Tangier photo meetings in 2025 and the prints exhibited during the second edition of Face à la Merhors les Murs, in 2026. Face à la Mer Hors les Murs aims to become an unmissable event for photo enthusiasts and a lasting cultural bridge between Carcassonne and Tangier.
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