Chloé Kaufmann

Chloé Kaufmann is a multidisciplinary artist, photographer, filmmaker, and author. Her work delves into the intricate relationships between individuals and their environments, as well as the visual and narrative stories these connections can generate. A graduate in Theatre and Film Studies from the University of Paul Verlaine in Metz, she pursued a Master’s degree in Art and Culture Theory, focusing her research on the spatial dynamics and heroic figures in the films of Sidney Pollack. During this period, she wrote and directed her first play, which explored a reflection on the myth of utopia as conceived by Thomas More. She subsequently continued her studies at the Institut des Arts de Diffusion in Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium. In 2012, she traveled to Athens to document the early consequences of the European crisis. This pivotal moment marked the true beginning of her photographic work. While in Athens, she met Ahmad, a Syrian refugee, an encounter that proved to be a defining influence on her artistic journey. The following year, in Istanbul, she directed "Woman’s Work, letter from Syria". This film was later distributed by SONGES and selected for prestigious international festivals, including DOK Leipzig, the Festival International du Cinéma Libre in Hamburg, and This Human World in Austria. She then began her long-term series Hic & Nunc, exploring the concept of the "unique place," and embarked on a prolific period during which she created over a dozen short films. In 2018, she participated in an artist residency in Haiti, followed by another in Montreal, Canada, in 2019. In 2021, after attending a week-long workshop on photographic archives led by Luce Lebart, she exhumed an earlier photographic project combining images and prose poetry. This work, titled Sweet Sweet Home, was showcased in 2023 as part of the group exhibition Résister during the Arts en Balade event in Clermont-Ferrand.