Galerie Regard Sud is presenting "Empreintes," a compelling photographic exhibition by artist Farida Hamak that captures the evolving landscape of Tunisia through intimate and contemplative imagery. The exhibition, running from September 18 through November 15, 2025, showcases Hamak's long-term artistic exploration of cultural, economic, and environmental changes across the Maghreb and Middle East regions.
For several years, Hamak has been traveling throughout countries in the Maghreb and Middle East, searching for spaces undergoing rapid transformation due to various cultural, economic, and environmental factors. Her artistic practice places particular emphasis on the role of women and their intimate spaces within what she describes as patriarchal, so-called traditional cultures. While the human element remains central to her work, it typically appears through subtle clues and brief apparitions rather than direct representation.
The "Empreintes" project, which has been developing over the long term since 2022, emerged from Hamak's extensive travels across Tunisian territory from north to south. Her journey took her from the capital city of Tunis to the edges of the Sahara desert, along the coastline to the island of Djerba, where she observed how the sea appears to merge seamlessly with the sky. Through these travels, she sought to discover both perceptible and elusive traces of the country's inherent complexity.
Drawing from the silent beauty of Tunisia's diverse landscapes, Hamak constructs narratives around the country's rich history, particularly focusing on moments where tradition confronts modernity. Her photographs explore how nature must now coexist with rapidly expanding urban development or, conversely, with areas that have been completely abandoned. She deliberately avoids clichéd and overly dramatic imagery, instead creating photographs that emerge without premeditation while grappling directly with reality.
Hamak's unique perspective stems from her dual Franco-Algerian cultural background, which she describes as a "crossed gaze" that allows her to focus on elements that might typically remain off-screen or unnoticed. Her images reveal the simplicity of shared moments and capture details of abandoned architecture with remarkable sensitivity. The compositions are notably silent, using carefully crafted plays of light to convey deeper emotional and cultural meanings.
The photographer explains that her images seek to reveal subtle sensory experiences that extend beyond the visual realm. "My photographs seek to reveal the distant sound of a breeze, the murmur of a discussion between women of the same family or the clattering of water in a still-filled basin," Hamak states. This approach creates a multi-sensory experience that invites viewers to engage with the work on multiple levels.
"Empreintes" is composed of carefully selected fragments of stories, with each image carrying contemplative intensity that allows viewers to construct their own narrative understanding. The territory is presented in what Hamak describes as "a modest and poetic manner," revealing both Tunisia's singularity and beauty while also exposing its unspoken and unrevealed interstices that serve as markers of its contemporaneity.
The exhibition will be held at Galerie Regard Sud, located at 1/3 rue des Pierres Plantées in Lyon's 69001 district. The gallery can be reached at 33 (0)4 78 27 44 67, and additional information is available at www.regardsud.com. This presentation offers viewers an opportunity to experience Hamak's nuanced exploration of cultural transformation through her distinctive photographic lens.
