COMING TOGETHER

The La Gacilly Photo Festival is a sort of space-time continuum where distances are overcome by the photographers, visitors and everyone else involved in the event. Where borders are forgotten as visions from all around the world are shared, unique views that move us and take us beyond the scope of our own thoughts.

Our exhibitions, accessible to all, are theatres of intimate dialogue and venues for encounters, inspired by the opportunity to discover photographs and debate the ideas that they generate in the forum provided by the public space. Public space: two words that say it all. A place for sharing and for dialogue; a place that belongs to each individual, but which is rooted in collective understanding.

When everything grinds to a halt and distance governs our reality, a large void appears and we attempt to come to terms with this turn of events. What are we to do, alone, in this huge, hyperconnected system? This is a question that we have been asking for some time now. But when a global pandemic forces each and every one of us to address it, time suddenly stands still, caught between yesterday’s world and the worlds of tomorrow that are yet to be invented. So we create a horizon and we move forwards.

Moving forwards together is ultimately what the festival has been striving to do with its programme for the past 17 years, aided by the visions of artists who testify to the darkness and light in our world. Believe in the world is another of our tenets, as we accompany artists: the first opus of the Ruralité(s) creative residency demonstrates this with its capacity for forging ties. The way forward is also a series of steps, small or large. It is what we all do, whether festival organisers or festival-goers, as we participate in the paradigm shift that is now not just a necessity but an imperative as we face the consequences of our unbridled development. And finally, growing together means working together on education for the young and the not-so-young, as reflected in the mediation work orchestrated by our association all year round. This year, for example, we will be celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Morbihan School Photo Festival, an artistic and cultural educational programme that also encompasses our environmental and societal commitments. In all, 2,700 pupils have participated in this unique initiative, which runs throughout the school year and is backed by the Morbihan Departmental Council.

So we move forwards, not with our heads down and stuck in our ways, but open-minded and alert. As humans, we have the ability to plan ahead, to turn our ideas and thoughts to the future. The photographers are here to remind us of that. And we also have the capacity to think about tomorrow. How wonderful it is to be able to imagine meeting up here in La Gacilly, this summer!

Stéphanie Retiere-Secret
Festival Director