AnOther Magazine
The Very Best Photo Shows to See at Rencontres d'Arles 2025
24 July 2025
Selected excerpts
Original
"Among our favourite works on display is Absque Originis by French-Haitian dancer, poet and pianist Mackenzy Bergile (in collaboration with Thomas Desoutter)..."
French
« Parmi nos œuvres préférées présentées figure Absque Originis, de Mackenzy Bergile, danseur, poète et pianiste franco-haïtien (en collaboration avec Thomas Desoutter)… »
Critical abstract
Included among AnOther Magazine's selection of the outstanding exhibitions at the 2025 Rencontres d'Arles, Absque Originis is presented as one of the most compelling projects of the festival's Off programme. The article highlights the collaboration between Mackenzy Bergile and filmmaker Thomas Desoutter, describing the work as a powerful choreographic film that explores the emotional and psychological consequences of hospitalism syndrome through an intimate visual language. Rather than framing the project as documentary, the review situates it within a broader curatorial reflection on roots, inheritance, and memory, where movement and cinema become vehicles for investigating displacement, identity, and the lasting effects of emotional deprivation. By selecting Absque Originis as the standout work within Roots, AnOther Magazine positions Bergile's practice alongside an international selection of major photographic and visual art exhibitions, recognising the work for its emotional depth, cinematic precision, and conceptual clarity.