PHOTO Australia, the team behind Melbourne's PHOTO International Festival of Photography, unveiled a collaboration with the Rencontres d’Arles, one of the world’s most renowned and enduring photography festivals. This partnership will debut the exhibition On Country: Photography from Australia in Arles, France, from 7 July to 5 October 2025, marking the first-ever regional focus on Australia at the iconic event.
Curated by PHOTO Australia Founder and Artistic Director Elias Redstone, Guest Curator Kimberley Moulton (Yorta Yorta), along with PHOTO Australia Curators Pippa Milne and Brendan McCleary, On Country offers a rich exploration of Australia’s photographic landscape.
The exhibition brings together 17 Indigenous and non-Indigenous artists and collectives, showcasing over 200 images that delve into the multifaceted experience of being ‘on Country’. The term ‘on Country’ holds deep significance for Australia’s First Peoples, referring to the interconnectedness with the land, waterways, seas, and cosmos. Through these photographic works, the exhibition introduces international audiences to both the visible and hidden dimensions of this profound relationship.
Prominent artists in the exhibition include Tony Albert (Kuku Yalanji), Maree Clarke (Yorta Yorta/Wamba Wamba/Mutti Mutti/Boonwurrung) and Brenda L Croft (Gurindji/Malngin/Mudburra) alongside Adam Ferguson, Atong Atem, and Ying Ang. Important emerging artists being exhibited internationally for the first time include wani toaishara, Tace Stevens, and Liss Fenwick.
About Rencontres d'Arles
The Rencontres d'Arles, originally known as Rencontres internationales de la photographie d'Arles, is a prestigious summer photography festival established in 1970 by photographer Lucien Clergue, writer Michel Tournier, and historian Jean-Maurice Rouquette.
Renowned for unveiling previously unseen works, the festival attracts a global audience with visitors numbering around 100,000 each year.
Held in collaboration with French and international institutions, the festival’s exhibitions are set in historic venues, including 12th-century chapels and 19th-century industrial buildings, many of which open exclusively for the event.
On Country – Photography from Australia highlights include:
● Tony Albert & David Charles Collins’ series Warakurna Superheroes – produced in collaboration with children from a remote First Peoples community in the Northern Territory. The series depicts Indigenous children in handmade superhero costumes posing against the dramatic outback landscapes of Warakurna.
● The artwork Warakurna Superheroes #1 has been selected by Arles Festival Director Christoph Wiesner as the hero image for the 2025 festival, providing major exposure through the festival’s branding, marketing, and signage – a testament to the significance of the exhibition.
● Capemba Bumbarra, a 38-metre cyanotype installation by Elisa Jane Carmichael & Sonja Carmichael (Ngugi/Quandamooka), represents the flow of fresh water from a spring as it journeys along tidal pathways and flows through the bush, mangroves, and out into the salty bay of Quandamooka on the Queensland Coast.
● A site-specific installation by Maree Clarke of her series Ritual and Ceremony, featuring a 3-metre tall portrait of the distinguished Elder, the late Uncle Jack Charles.
● The exhibition takes place in the historic Église Saint-Anne – a deconsecrated church built in the 1600s – and will be a centrepiece exhibition visible to the Rencontres d’Arles’ estimated 160,000 festival visitors.
You can find out more about the upcoming exhibition on the PHOTO 2026 website.