"Spasibo"
by Davide Monteleone
4th Carmignac Gestion Photojournalism Award laureate

Exhibition: 30 August to 28 September 2014

Fotografie Forum Frankfurt
Braubachstrasse 30–32
60311 Frankfurt am Main

Open daily except Mondays
11 am to 6 pm
Open until 8 pm on Wednesdays
Free admission

More information: www.fondation-carmignac.com/photojournalism-award

As part of its ongoing policy to establish long-term links with leading European institutions, the Carmignac Foundation will present a photography exhibition by Davide Monteleone, the 4th winner of the Carmignac Gestion Photojournalism Award, from 30 August to 28 September 2014 at the Fotografie Forum Frankfurt (FFF). In the spring of 2014, the Carmignac Foundation took part in the reopening of this dynamic institution, whose mission is to promote and share high-quality photography.

The exhibition, entitled Spasibo, is the fruit of photographic work carried out in Chechnya between December 2012 and April 2013 by photographer Davide Monteleone. The Italian-born photographer chose to depict the threat to the Chechen identity existing behind the carefully cultivated façade of peace and prosperity promoted by the autocratic regime of Ramzan Kadyrov.

This work has previously been presented at the Chapelle des Beaux-Arts de Paris (France) and at the Studio Museo Francesco Messina in Milan (Italy), and will be exhibited at the Hôtel de Luppé in Arles (France) in July-August 2014, and at the Saatchi Gallery in London (United Kingdom) in October 2014.

A book of photographs, Spasibo has been published by Kehrer (164 pages).

Davide Monteleone (born in 1974) started his career in 2000, when he became an editorial photographer for the Contrasto agency. The next year he moved to Moscow as a correspondent. This decision determined his ensuing career. Since 2003, Monteleone has lived between Italy and Russia, pursuing long-term personal projects. He published his first book Dusha, Russian Soul in 2007, followed by La Linea Inesistente in 2009, and Red Thistle in 2012. His projects have brought him numerous awards, including various World Press Photo prizes and several grants like “Aftermath” and the European Publisher Award. In recent years he has carried out projects for leading international magazines, foundations and cultural institutions, exhibiting and teaching. Davide Monteleone’s fine art prints are available at Kehrer Berlin Galerie, Berlin and his editorial work is distributed by VII Photo.

Created in 2000, the Carmignac Foundation has its roots in Carmignac Gestion’s corporate collection, which has been on display in the management company’s premises from the start. Built up over the past twenty-five years with an open mind and no restrictions, this unique compendium of contemporary art reflects the personal favourites of Carmignac Gestion’s founder, Edouard Carmignac, a seasoned fund manager and stockbroker. The Carmignac collection currently boasts more than 200 works of art from the 20th and 21st centuries, including major ones by Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Keith Haring, Jean-Michel Basquiat and Gerhard Richter. Selected on the basis of how evocative they are, the quality of their composition and how powerful a message they convey, the most recent additions to the collection show a strong emphasis on emerging market countries.

The Carmignac Foundation has always been committed to sharing and open to dialogue with the widest possible audience. In keeping with that commitment, the Foundation, headed by Gaïa Donzet, plans to open new premises in 2016 on the protected island of Porquerolles. Architect Marc Barani and landscape architect Louis Benech will be designing the site in a way that fully respects this stunning natural environment and meets the rigorous building permit requirements. A programme of on-site sculpture commissions by young international artists has been launched in order to integrate contemporary art into an extraordinary setting that can both enhance the viewing experience and help make a new generation of artists better known.

The Carmignac Foundation launched the Carmignac Gestion Photojournalism Award in 2009 with the aim of supporting and promoting an investigative photo essay in areas not in the spotlight yet at the heart of complex geostrategic issues with global repercussions and where human rights and freedom of speech are often violated. Regions such as Gaza, Pashtunistan, Zimbabwe, Chechnya and Iran were the locations selected for the first awards. “Lawless areas in France” is the chosen theme for the sixth award.

With a prize set at 50,000 Euros, this award aims to fund in-depth photographic report that reflects the complexity of the current situation. The Carmignac Foundation undertakes to support the winner throughout the project by monitoring his/her progress in the field as well as promoting and running a touring exhibition in France, Italy, Germany and the UK and financing a monograph. The Carmignac Foundation also commits to buying four photographs resulting from the winner’s endeavours.

In keeping with the values of courage, independence, transparency and sharing held dear by staff at Carmignac Gestion, the Carmignac Foundation is committed to championing the views of involved individuals that are far from the standard blueprint.