Artist from Venezuela based in Paris
Winner of Photo Folio Review Prize 2022
Founder of La.ima.: social impact project that innovates the transmission and pedagogy of photography
Her practice
An essentially multidisciplinary artist, Oleñka Carrasco experiments and questions photography, writing, drawing and performance to address themes that are always closely related to her intimate experience. Poetry is never absent from this process of exploration: it is the backbone of her projects.
Her exhibitions are immersive experiences, photographic installations similar to true inner journeys, which awaken powerful emotions in the audience by putting them in the presence of themselves or by taking a demanding look at a social reality that she intends to make visible.
Her educational background
After graduating in Literature at the Universidad Central de Venezuela, she obtained a Master’s degree in Humanities, specializing in interpretation and dance theory, at the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Spain.
Since 2015, she has been studying artistic photography and fine arts in Paris.
In 2022, she was one of the 7 selected to follow the Professional Mentorship program at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Photographie d’Arles with Susan Meiselas, Gilles Saussier and Pierre Leguillon, for her work with photographic archives and memory.
Prizes and recognitions
2023: Winner of the Open Call Rencontres Photographiques du 10e. Paris, France.
2022: Winner Open Call Híbridos y Rupturas. Cali Foto Fest. Cali, Colombia.
2022: Shortlisted of the Open Call. Gibellina Photo Road. Sicily, Italy.
2022: Winner of the Photo Folio Review award at the Rencontres d’Arles. Her work Maison prêtée pour un deuil will be part of the official selection of the Festival in 2023. France.
2022 : Shortlisted. The dummy of the book Maison prêtée pour un deuil finalist of the Rencontres Luma Dummy Book Award and has been exhibited with the other 9 finalists at the Rencontres d’Arles 2022. France.
2015: Shortlisted. Letters from Paris. Dummy nominated for the Luma Rencontres Dummy Book Award and shortlisted among the 9 finalists. Exhibited at the Rencontres Internationales d’Arles in 2015. France.
2014: Historias Analógicas Extraordinarias. Jury Prize for the whole work. Salon des arts, Toulouse, France.
Exhibitions (SOLO)
Juillet 2023 : PATRIA. Rencontres d’Arles, France.
November 2022 : La liste de Prénoms. Espace Cariño. Paris, France.
Novembre 2022 : La liste de Prénoms. Sist’her. Paris, France.
Septembre / Octobre 2022 : Le cimetière des vivants. Iris Arles Galerie. Arles, France.
2021 : Le cimetière des vivants. Médiathèque Edmond Rostand (Fonds Photo). Paris, France.
2019 : La liste de Prénoms. Mairie du 2ème arrondissement. Paris, France.
2017 : La liste de Prénoms. Maison des Femmes de Montreuil. France
2013 : Histoires Analogiques Extraordinaires. Lomography Gallery Madrid, Spain.
Exhibitions (Groups)
September 2023: PATRIA. Chapter 1: House on loan for a grief. Rencontres Photographiques du 10e. Paris, France.
Artistic direction: Collectif Fétart. Curator: Emmanuelle Halkin. With the artists: Juliette Alhmah, Julien Bonnaire & Antoinette Giret, Oleñka Carrasco, Bastien Deschamps, Souleymane Bachir Diaw, Adrien Selbert, Rebecca Topakian, Anthony Voisin.
June 2022 : Le cimetière des vivants. Invernario. Festival Fotografia Europea OFF. Reggio Emilia, Italy.
May 2022 : Restitution Mentorat. ENSP. Arles, France.
2021 : S’écouler Performance with Lucía Sanchez Napal. Point Ephémère. Paris, France.
2021 : La multiplicité de l’autofragmentation. Biennale d’Art contemporain Campagn’ART. Parisot, France.
2020 : Simbiosis. Exhibition and Performance with Lucía Sanchez Napal. Point Ephémère. Paris, France.
2020 : La liste de Prénoms. Exposition L’Amour et la violence. MPAA, Breguet. Paris, France.
2019 : La liste de Prénoms. Exposition Sorcières d’aujourd’hui. MPAA, Breguet. Paris, France.
2019 : Le cimetière des vivants. Vedere Parole :Mostra Internazionale dell libro d’artista. Rossano, Italie
2019 : Le cimetière des vivants. Parcours Voies Off, Rencontres Arles.
La Casa de la Tapicera, with Nía Diedla.
2018 : La liste de Prénoms. 3 jours 1 femme, with Camille Gharbi and Arianna Sanesi. Galerie L’Aberrante, Montpellier, France.
2018 : La liste de Prénoms. Symposium PhotoTexte engagée. MSH-CNRS Paris.
2017 : La liste de Prénoms. Performance 25 Nov, Place de la République. Paris
2015 : La Multiplicité de l’autofragmention. Immix Gallery. Paris, France.
2015 : Lettres de Paris. Rencontres Photographiques du 10ème 2015. Paris, France.
2013: Histoires Analogiques Extraordinaires. Exhibited in Salon des Arts de Saint-Jory.
Publications
2022 : Maison prêtée pour un deuil. Dummy (Looking for a publisher).
Shorlisted to the Luma Rencontres Dummy Book Award.
2021 : Le cimetière des vivants. Self Published. 2º edition. Sold out.
2019 : Le cimetière des vivants. Self Published. 1st edition. Sold out.
2018 : La Latitud de los pasos.. Ediciones Casiopea. Espagne.
2017 : La Nostalgia es una revuelta. Tigres de Papel. Espagne. Nominated to Prix Livre Photo-Texte de l’Année (“Photo-Text Book Prize of the Year”) and exhibited at Rencontres Photographiques d’Arles, 2017.
2015 : Lettres de Paris. Dummy. Shorlisted to the Luma Rencontres Dummy Book Award and exhibited in Rencontres d’Arles, France. (Looking for publisher)
Teaching, a passion
Oleñka has a historic link with public education. With over 10 years’ experience teaching Hispanic culture in the French National Education system, Grandes Écoles (Commerce, Engineering) or Universities (Cergy-Pontoise), since 2016 she has been passing on her knowledge of photography to audiences of all ages and backgrounds.
Between 2017 and 2019, she created photographic workshops for the Association Parole de Photographes, focused on educating the eye in nursery and elementary schools in Paris. At the same time, in 2017, she and Bruno Dubreuil created their first training structure: Imago Factory, a space for artistic exploration around photographic projects in Paris.
In 2021, she decided to create her own structure La.ima. : Laboratoire transatlantique de créations & d’images, an inclusive, intergenerational school to support and professionalize women photographers by re-thinking, re-creating and experimenting with images and photography through a gender lens.
This project is considered to have a societal impact and was supported in its start-up by the EmpowHer network and the 93 Femmes du 6B program.
Interview Oleñka (avalaible in french) : Vidéo
Curator and research director
June-July 2023: Le fil des noeuds.
Research direction and artistic conception. Group exhibition La.ima. Curated by Ioana Mello
With the artists: Bruna Azevedo, Stéphanie Kowalski, Laurence Lebon, Anne-Marie Rodriguez.
Location: Fonds Photo. Médiathèque Edmond Rostand. 75017. Paris.
June-September 2022: À la recherche du corps perdu.
Conceived and curated. Group exhibition. La.ima.
Location: Fonds Photo. Médiathèque Edmond Rostand. 75017. Paris.
With the artists: Flora Nguyen, Stéphanie Kowalski, Stéphanie Knibbe, Anne-Marie Rodriguez, Bruna Azevedo, Laurence Lebon, Françoise Constant, Christelle Boulin, Gloria Karayel.
Mail: mail.olenkacarrasco@gmail.com
Studio: Les Arches Citoyennes. Hôtel de Ville. 75004. Paris, France.