RENCONTRES D'ARLES 2008: REVIEW
www.rencontres-arles.com
In 2008, the popularity of the Rencontres d'Arles continued to rise.
60,000 visitors (number of "unique" visitors, giving a total of 305,000 entrance tickets sold for the 2008 festival exhibitions) came to Arles to view the exhibitions, a 10% increase on 2007. The 2008 edition thus marked a new all-time attendance high in the festival's history.
Visitors from France, whose numbers were slightly up this year, accounted for 85% of the Rencontres' audience. The foreign public came mainly from Europe and North America.
4,600 professionals attended the opening week.
Media coverage of the event was exceptional both in France and abroad: the festival drew 1,250 journalists over its duration.
The success of this edition was due to the variety and scope of the work selected by Christian Lacroix, guest curator of the 39th Rencontres d'Arles, to his bold and heartfelt choices, and to his strong personal involvement.
52 exhibitions were staged by the Rencontres d'Arles 2008 (36 of which were produced or co-produced by the festival), together with 18 associate exhibitions.
The 2008 Discovery Award (€25,000) went to the South African photographer Pieter Hugo, nominated by Elisabeth Biondi, visuals editor at The New Yorker.
The Contemporary Book Award (€8,000): Strange and Singular by Michael Abrams (Loosestrife Editions, 2007)
The Historical Book Award (€8,000): Nein, Onkel (Archive of Modern Conflict, August 2007).
