Archive exhibitions
Chronology of the Exhibition Tours
In his final years, Bourdieu entrusted the surviving portion of his Algeria-related archive — around 650 negatives and 140 prints — to Franz Schultheis and the Fondation Pierre Bourdieu (founded in Geneva, Switzerland, in 2005), as well as to Christine Frisingheli of Camera Austria (Graz, Austria). One of the aims was to make these photographs accessible to the public through exhibitions and publications.
Between 2003 and 2021, Pierre Bourdieu’s photographic collection was presented in a total of 34 exhibitions and exhibition stations worldwide — including both full presentations and thematic selections. These stops took place either sequentially or in parallel, reflecting the international interest in this photographic archive.
In January 2003, the first major exhibition featuring a selection of photographs from Pierre Bourdieu’s Algeria archive opened at the Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris under the title Images d’Algérie: Une affinité élective. The show presented a selection from the approximately 2,000 photographs Bourdieu had taken between 1958 and 1961 during his fieldwork in Algeria. Bourdieu himself was still involved in the basic concept of this exhibition and, in an extensive interview, provided insight into the intentions and framework of his photographic work. However, the exhibition in Paris opened only a year after his death — in memoriam.
That same year, another exhibition followed under the title "Pierre Bourdieu in Algerien. Zeugnisse der Entwurzelung" (Pierre Bourdieu in Algeria: Testimonies of Uprooting), shown from November 2003 to February 2004 at Camera Austria in the Kunsthaus Graz. It too presented Bourdieu’s photographic work in the context of his sociological analysis of colonial power relations and societal upheavals in Algeria.
On March 12, 2005, the exhibition "Pierre Bourdieu en Algérie. Un photographe en circonstance" opened at the Centre de Photographie, Espace Culturel Grütli in Geneva. That same year, Bourdieu’s photographs were shown in Germany for the first time in several exhibitions: in Munich, Pierre Bourdieu in Algerien. Zeugnisse der Entwurzelung was displayed at the Gasteig Cultural Center in Freiburg "Pierre Bourdieu. Images d’Algérie" was presented at the Centre Culturel Français. In Lüneburg, a thematically focused and contextualized exhibition was held for the first time under the title "Ökonomien des Elends. Pierre Bourdieu in Algerien" (Economies of Misery: Pierre Bourdieu in Algeria), organized in cooperation between the University of Lüneburg’s Kunstraum, Camera Austria (Christine Frisingheli), and the Fondation Bourdieu (Franz Schultheis).
In the following years, Bourdieu’s Algeria photographs were shown in numerous exhibitions worldwide, indicating their growing international resonance. Venues in Tokyo, Seoul, London, the Swedish city of Umeå, and at Smith College in the United States testify to the global relevance of his photographic work.
In addition, the photographs were presented at renowned art and cultural institutions, including the Deichtorhallen Hamburg (Germany, 2006), the Haus der Kulturen der Welt in Berlin (Germany, 2019), and Z33 in Hasselt (Belgium, 2021). Overall, the exhibition has been shown on every continent — with the exception of Australia and Antarctica.
Further information and materials can be found on the website of Camera Austria.
A detailed chronology of the exhibition tours can be found here.
​
Pierre Bourdieu at the Centre Pompidou
Under the title Images d’Algérie. Une affinité élective, the collection was most recently on view from November 2024 to March 2025 at the Centre Pompidou in Paris. The exhibition once again situated Bourdieu’s photographic work in the field of tension between art, sociological data, colonial documentation, and collective memory in the sense of Maurice Halbwachs.
At the heart of the exhibition was the unexpected encounter between two major French intellectuals of the 20th century: Pierre Bourdieu (1930–2002) and Paul Virilio (1932–2018). At the end of the 1950s, both began — independently of one another — to compile photographic archives for their respective research purposes. While sociologist and ethnologist Bourdieu used photography as a methodological tool for analyzing colonial power relations and social reality, urban planner and philosopher Virilio employed it to visually decipher his era — in effect, as an archaeologist of the future.
The presentation offered a unique insight into Bourdieu’s visual work, highlighting a lesser-known facet of his oeuvre. The exhibition was conceived by Christine Frisingheli, Franz Schultheis, and Sophie Virilio, and realized in collaboration with Camera Austria, the Fondation Pierre Bourdieu, and the association Atelier Paul Virilio.
More informations:
​
The exhibition as a research laboratory
In November 2025, the exhibition "Gender - Power - Visuality: Pierre Bourdieu's Sociological Perspective“ is planned for the Kunsthalle Bielefeld. It will be organized and accompanied by the first-ever ”Bourdieu Lectures" in collaboration with Bielefeld University, Zeppelin University (Friedrichshafen), the University of Education Freiburg, and the Fondation Pierre Bourdieu.