Rebecca Topakian

With a background in philosophy and geography, Rebecca Topakian graduated from École Nationale Supérieure de la Photographie in Arles in 2015. Her work considers the definition of identity in its invisible, mythological and fictional dimensions, moving back and forth between the documentary and the poetic, reality and fiction, personal and political, to explore themes of individual and collective identity. Born in France, Topakian took Armenian nationality following the Haut-Karabagh conflict in 2020 and now spends part of her time in Yerevan.

She was resident at Cité Internationale des Arts in 2018-2019 and is the recipient of several grants and awards: Prix Fénéon (2021), Prix ADIAF x Catawiki Emergence (2023), Regards du Grand Paris national commission (2021) and the BNF photojournalism commission (2022). Her work has been shown at Rencontres d’Arles, Galerie Agnès B, Galerie Les Filles du Calvaire, Bibliothèque Nationale de France (BnF), Biennale de l’Image Tangible, Chicago Cultural Center, Les Magasins Généraux and Cité Internationale des Arts, and is part of private and public collections including those of Centre National des Arts Plastiques, BnF and Fonds d’Art Contemporain de la Ville de Paris.

Dame Gulizar and Other Love Stories won the 2021 BUP Book Award and was published in 2024 by Blow Up Press. Her work is currently shown at MAC VAL, Musée Départemental Albert Kahn, Casino Luxembourg and WAAO in Lille. She is resident at POUSH.

From Ararat to Fujiyama (after Artsvin Grigoryan) takes as its starting point a travel sketchbook, From Fujiyama to Ararat, which Grigoryan published in 1963. Working from the postulate that Mount Ararat and Mount Fuji occupy a similar symbolic place in their respective surroundings, Rebecca Topakian asks what do these mountains represent as a cultural and spiritual connection to nature and the environment? Through still and moving images, in which landscapes, bodies and details are portrayed with the same sensuality, Rebecca Topakian’s project urges us to contemplate and learn from mountains, to develop an ecosystemic relationship with the world.