Occitan Artists Explore Exile and Migration in Andorra la Vella Exhibition

An exhibition on the inherited aspects of exile opened Tuesday in Andorra la Vella, uniting 12 emerging Occitan artists in multimedia explorations of displacement, migration, and multiple identities.

Titled Entre dos mons, camins ("Between Two Worlds, Paths"), the display runs at the government's exhibition hall in Parc Central as the inaugural collaboration among Andorra's Department of Cultural Promotion, the Nouveau Printemps de Tolosa festival, and the French embassy in Andorra. Curators Manuel Pomar and Clément Postec chose the participants from roughly 50 submissions by about 40 Occitan arts venues, aiming for diverse personal testimonies rather than a uniform viewpoint.

Pomar emphasized the works' emotional pull, drawing from intimate family legacies—including his own as a second- or third-generation descendant—and broader experiences like queer or trans displacements. "There are as many exiles as there are exiled people," he noted, adding that the show counters often "virulent and nefarious" public discourse with calls for dialogue and solidarity. "Sharing is essential, and through dialogue we build together."

Joan Marc Joval, the department director, framed the partnership as a long-sought link to avant-garde programming focused on youth and contemporary issues. He positioned it within the hall's ongoing series tackling societal topics through art, such as past shows on the Anthropocene and human planetary impact. "We periodically address current themes from an artistic perspective," Joval said, highlighting exile's individual and collective dimensions.

The lineup spans video, photography, installations, sculpture, sound, and performance by creators aged 25 to nearly 80. Standouts include Charlie Auby's repurposed family wardrobe from Portugal to France, etched with migration routes and projected dialogues; Sankoen Ben Salah's video of her mother safeguarding Tunisian plants; Lili Pinault's fading prints from Spanish Civil War archives and the Argelers camp; and Won-Jik's salvaged hammam shoes symbolizing migrant neglect. Andorran Marc Riva offers a related performance piece.

Pomar described the exhibition as political in its push for hospitality amid global debates, with memories of lost—or inherited—homelands still molding generational identities.