Josef Koudelka: La Fabrique d’Exils [Exiles]

Centre Pompidou’s exhibition ‘Josef Koudelka: La fabrique d’Exils‘ is the first exhibition of photographer Josef Koudelka’s work in Paris in 29 years.The exhibition comes in light of a donation by the photographer of all seventy-five photographs from his Exiles series to the Centre Pompidou.

In 1970, not long after photographing the invasion of Prague by Soviet tanks, Josef Koudelka left his native Czechoslovakia. He lived first in London, then Paris, while travelling across Europe, responding to every opportunity put in his way. During this period from the 70s to the 80s, he took the spellbinding pictures, which formed a part of the Exiles series. They were exhibited in Paris in 1988, then compiled in a book that has since become a reference in the genre.

In this exhibition, presented in the Galerie de Photographies, Centre Pompidou will present thirty-five of the series’ most iconic pictures, together with numerous unpublished images printed especially for the occasion. The exhibition will also include an extraordinary selection of hitherto unseen self-portraits taken by Koudelka during his travels as well as the “contact sheets” on which he glued his images, organised by form or theme.

Through a selection of some eighty photographs, the Centre Pompidou exhibition will provide an enriching and comprehensive presentation of Josef Koudelka’s Exiles series, from its inception to its production. Admission to the Centre Pompidou’s Galerie de Photographies is free (Forum-1).