Géologie des âmes at the Fondation Thalie, Arles
The Fondation Thalie in Arles presents Géologie des âmes (Geology of Souls), a collective exhibition drawn from the Nathalie Guiot Collection and set in a restored 18th-century hôtel particulier. The exhibition has been prolonged an additional week, August 23-30.
This summer, the Fondation Thalie in Arles presents Géologie des âmes (Geology of Souls), a collective exhibition drawn from the Nathalie Guiot Collection. Set in a restored 18th-century hôtel particulier, the exhibition ran from July 8-25th and has now been prolonged an additional week – August 23-30th, to coincide with the Agir pour le vivant festival.
Conceived as a passage through layered worlds—geological, intimate, spiritual, and political—the exhibition gathers more than thirty international artists from Guiot’s collection. Their works trace the human imprint on nature, interrogate postcolonial narratives, and engage with questions of gender, memory, and resilience. Anchored in dialogue with permanent pieces from the collection and new site-specific commissions, the show offers a non-linear, polyphonic narrative of our time.
The curatorial framework draws inspiration from thinkers such as Anna Tsing, Achille Mbembe, Philippe Descola, and Baptiste Morizot, whose writings illuminate how we inhabit a world marked by ecological upheaval and cultural transformation. Across photography, video, drawing, sculpture, and performance, the artists engage in what could be described as gestures of repair: attempts to archive, reinterpret, and reimagine human and non-human connections.
Structured in four movements, Geology of Souls unfolds poetically throughout the space. Strata of the Living reflects on the Anthropocene, with artists like Anaïs Tondeur and Hiroshi Sugimoto exploring deep time and fragile archives of ecological trauma. Forest, Animality, Rituals turns to the sacred vitality of plants, animals, and marine life, with Noémie Goudal, Albarrán Cabrera, and Nicolas Floc’h offering transformative encounters. An Intermezzo space brings viewers into a more introspective terrain, where Francesca Woodman and Rina Banerjee evoke memory, disappearance, and intimate rituals. The final chapter, Territories of Memory, foregrounds postcolonial perspectives and diasporic voices, featuring works by Monica de Miranda, Zanele Muholi, and Hector Zamora, among others.
The full list of artists includes: Alma Allen, Sama Alshaibi, Rina Banerjee, Jörg Bräuer, Albarran Cabrera, Mathilde Cazes, Monica de Miranda, Claudine Doury, Nicolas Floc’h, Agnès Geoffray, Noémie Goudal, Jean-François Jaussaud, Wallen Mapondera, Zanele Muholi, Giovanni Ozzola, Adrian Paci, Raphaëlle Peria, Solange Pessoa, Lucia Pizzani, Karine Rougier, Hiroshi Sugimoto, Risaku Suzuki, Anaïs Tondeur, Gérard Traquandi, Francesca Woodman et Héctor Zamora.
Alongside its exhibitions, the Foundation Thalie supports regenerative design through initiatives such as Aleor Craft & Biodesign, Europe’s first platform dedicated to living-centered design.
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