• It is the first major exhibition in Spain of Viviane Sassen, one of the most influential photographers on the contemporary scene.
• The exhibition brings her more personal artistic practice into dialogue with her work in fashion, expanded into audiovisual and photo-sculptural formats.

Spanning more than three decades of artistic practice, this major retrospective is dedicated to Viviane Sassen (Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 1972) and has been conceived specifically for PHotoESPAÑA 2026. In dialogue with the Festival’s theme, A New Imagination, the exhibition proposes a reinterpretation of her archive that moves away from a chronological structure, unfolding instead as a poetic installation in which images from different periods, series, and techniques coexist freely.

The exhibition brings together some of her most emblematic series, such as Flamboya and Parasomnia, alongside early works produced in Africa and pieces revisited for this occasion. This return to her origins underscores the importance of the African continent within her artistic vision. Sassen spent part of her childhood in Kenya, an experience that shaped her relationship with light, landscape, and the communities present in her work. Its presentation in Spain further encourages a reflection on the visibility and representation of African communities within contemporary visual culture.

In her practice, light and shadow operate as both formal and symbolic elements. Shadows become metaphors for memory and uncertainty, while color, geometric forms, and sculptural compositions transform photography into a space where the real and the imagined intertwine.

Women occupy a central place in her universe. Her images reveal tensions between vulnerability and strength, exploring identity as a territory in constant transformation.

The exhibition also includes new works, such as the large-scale collage series Cadavre Exquis, which expands her visual language and reinforces the exhibition as a dynamic ecosystem where images enter into dialogue and generate new ways of seeing.