"Beautiful Paradox", de William Keo

Exhibition by William Keo, a French-Cambodian photographer based in Paris. His work focuses on stories related to his family history and refugee past; migration, social exclusion and intercommunal intolerance.

Of this project, the artist tells us:

«The location of the Olympic Games is never a coincidence, and in 2024 they will take place in the poorest region of France, Seine-Saint-Denis, arrondissement 93, where I live. For years I have been chronically documenting the social and cultural structuring of this neighborhood, where social violence is aggravated to the point of being considered by researchers as «The Observatory of Inequality». 

The arrival of this event is already transforming the area, and the first signs are that the State is trying to pacify the region by moving immigrant populations to other more distant districts. Poverty, demonstrations against police violence, riots, police, drug trafficking, prisons, hospitals, immigration, subculture and youth, are the chapters that make up this project.

This selection curated from my project «Hostil» will paint a portrait of a youth with multiple identities, from third-generation immigrants to gentrification, on the eve of an Olympic Games that will impact and transform the area forever.»

William Keo

https://www.william-keo.com/