“Here, There – Chapter 2: At the Dawn of Darkness”
Hélène Mutter
Photo series and video documentary
2024/2025
“Here, There” is a long-time project which combines the production of a photo series and a creative video documentary across France and the countries of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Iraq. Drawn from numerous family archives, photographs, military documents, satellite images and testimonies, this research examines the multiplicity of points of view on the 1990-1991 Gulf War by taking a sociological look on it more than 30 years later.
“At the Dawn of Darkness” (2024-ongoing) is the second chapter of a larger narration composed of a prelude “Reconnaissance” (2009-2019), and a first chapter titled “Ultrasound images of war” (2022-2024). “At the Dawn of Darkness” is therefore the continuation of the construction of a chronicle on the Gulf conflict which examines the phenomenon of war and, particularly, its representation.
“Here, There” highlights how visual narratives are crafted in war through the interdependence between images and their fabrication process. In so doing, it invites the viewer to acknowledge and reflect on the way the visual information produced in these contexts is disseminated and perceived.
Previous projects
"L'acide rougit le tournesol"(“Acid Reddens the Sunflower”) - 2021-2022 With the support of Centre Culturel de Rencontre de Neimünster, Luxembourg, and Wallonia-Brussels International
"MILITARY SUNSET" - 2023 Digital color video installation, 76 archive photographs - 5'16 In partnership with ECPAD (Établissement de Communication et de Production Audiovisuelle de la Défense) Coproduction Centre Pompidou/Hors Pistes
Hélène Mutter
Hélène Mutter is a French visual artist, Dr. in Arts and Art Sciences and academic researcher. In 2020, She obtained her Ph.D thesis entitled “La guerre à l’épreuve de l’image. Art et dispositifs visuels” (“War and Image Challenges. Art and Visual Devices”), awarded by the Marie-Antoinette Van Huele thesis prize of the Faculty of Philosophy and Social Sciences of the Free University of Brussels in 2022.
Sensitive to political and social transformations around us using an approach focus on images, she questions the way of looking at the world and documenting it and especially war and conflicts situations.
In addition to her academic pursuits, she has contributed to peer-reviewed publications and several exhibitions. Helene Mutter's past accomplishments include being a laureate of various awards and grants, her work has been showed and exhibited in France, Luxembourg, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Morocco and recognized by organizations like the Centre Pompidou in Paris and the Ministry of the French Community of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation.
Since 2023, she lives and works in Saudi Arabia, where she oversees various cultural programs, brings a wealth of experience and expertise in the field of visual arts and research by following an approach at the crossing of art and theoretical thinking. She also pursues long-time fieldwork in the Gulf region between Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Iraq, which questions the multiplicity of points of view on the 1990-1991 Gulf conflict.
