BMW ART MAKERS winners present 'Le corps vitré' at Rencontres d'Arles
BMW Group France unveils the art project 'Le corps vitré' by Lara Tabet and Yasmine Chemali at Rencontres d'Arles, celebrating a 16-year partnership with the festival.
- 16 years
- 400+
- 6 July – 4 October 2026
What Happened
At the Rencontres d'Arles press conference, festival director Christoph Wiesner presented 'Le corps vitré' (Vitreous body), part of the 'Sensitive lives' section. The project is the latest from the BMW ART MAKERS programme, which funds and promotes innovative artistic projects. Artist Lara Tabet and curator Yasmine Chemali explore living organisms as porous networks through sensory mapping of Marseille's waters, using bacteria as co-authors in photographic works on glass and bioplastics.
“At BMW, we are deeply convinced that artistic patronage is a major source of innovation and cultural expression. The BMW ART MAKERS programme, by supporting both the artist and the curator, illustrates our commitment to supporting ambitious projects that push the boundaries of contemporary creation.”
- 2025: Raphaëlle Péria and Fanny Robin – Traversée du fragment manquant
- 2024: Mustapha Azeroual and Marjolaine Lévy – The Green Ray
- 2023: Eva Nielsen and Marianne Derrien – INSOLARE
- 2022: Arash Hanaei & Morad Montazami – Hantologie Suburbaine
The exhibition runs from 6 July to 4 October 2026 at the Cloître Saint-Trophime in Arles, and will also be shown at Paris Photo from 12–15 November 2026. BMW supports the festival with a fleet of electric vehicles and hosts educational visits for over 400 school classes annually through the 'Back-to-school in Images' programme.
Why this matters
This reflects BMW's long-term commitment to cultural patronage, supporting emerging artists and fostering dialogue between art, science, and society.
Terms in This Story
- Rencontres d'Arles
- An annual international photography festival held in Arles, France.
- BMW ART MAKERS
- A patronage programme by BMW that funds and promotes innovative artistic projects by duos of artists and curators.
- Le corps vitré
- French for 'vitreous body', the gelatinous substance inside the eye, used as a metaphor in the art project.
Summarised from the linked release; details can be imperfect — always verify against the original source.