French politician-author to showcase her evolution as artist photographer

A highlight of the expo will be the launch on January 20 of Muriel Pénicaud’s first photography book released in 2024, ‘Matrix of Worlds’, a monograph showcasing 150 of her prints followed by a book-signing and meet-and-greet event

This week, the multi-faceted French politician Muriel Pénicaud, undertakes a trip to this part of the world with a purpose altogether different from the numerous times she would have been southeast-bound in the past.

The former French Minister of Labour in the government of Prime Minister Édouard Philippe under President Emmanuel Macron (2017-2020) is arriving in the city this week to demonstrate her parallel evolution as an artist-photographer over a long career of juggling diverse roles of diplomat, writer, lecturer and business leader.

As a prominent figure in the liberal-centrist mould of France’s Renaissance party, one of Ms. Pénicaud’s signature accomplishments came when, as Minister, she spearheaded the reform of the Labour Code (2017) and the law ‘For the freedom to choose one’s professional future’ (2018), which led to massive development of apprenticeships, the launch of the personal training account in euros and progress in professional equality between women and men (EgaPro Index).

She was also instrumental in negotiating and concluding the first G7 agreement with the world’s social partners, aimed at providing universal access to social protection (2019) and also served as Ambassador, Permanent Representative of France to the OECD (2020-2022), where she initiated and negotiated the adoption of the International Program to fight Climate Change (IPAC), and worked to integrate youth, gender equality and climate issues into the ministerial priorities of OECD member countries.

Ms. Pénicaud, who has exhibited her work, including many award-winning prints, at esteemed galleries across Paris, Beijing and Tokyo, is having her first show here through two concurrent exhibitions.

The ‘Wind into the Roots’ show (January 17-February 28) at The Spot features two major series on urban landscapes and trees, while the ‘Deep Heights’ expo (January 17-February 23) at Kalinka Art Gallery presents an allegory of freedom and spiritual elevation through poetic images of birds and altitudes that manifest in her series ‘Life is red’.

According to Karine Soundaramourty-Pelade, art curator and founder of Kalinka contemporary art space, Muriel Pénicaud explores in her frames a unique form of visual storytelling, where each image tells a story and captures emotions. “Her photographs capture the poetry of the moment, whether fleeting like the flight of a bird or timeless like the majesty of trees”.

Offering an insight into her own approach to her art, Ms. Pénicaud had once remarked that photography was “my way of taming the world, sharing my disbelief, distancing violence and igniting wonder”.

A highlight of the expo will be the launch on January 20 of her first photography book released in 2024, ‘Matrix of Worlds’, a monograph showcasing 150 of her prints followed by a book-signing and meet-and-greet event.

According to Segiyane-Sylvain Paquiry, entrepreneur and hotelier, who is hosting the exhibition at The Spot, a property of Alliance Francaise that has been refashioned into a European restaurant-cum- culture lounge, Ms. Pénicaud is also a top billed speaker at a two-day ‘Study in France’ conference starting on January 18.

Published - January 15, 2025 08:55 pm IST