In August and September 2002 Hugonnier travelled to Afghanistan to research and record a new project.

Ariana, is a two-part project by Marine Hugonnier, consisting of photography, exhibited at MW projects and a film, to be screened concurrently at Chisenhale Gallery.

Afghanistan has experienced 23 years of war with the invasion and collapse of two major utopian ideologies (Communism and Fundamentalism). Ariana contains images of a journey to the capital Kabul and to the Pandjshêr Valley located in the north-east of the country. The geography and fertility of the valley landscape has enabled its people to resist invasion by both the Russians and the Taliban and has become a symbol of resistance and of an independent future. Sequences of the mountain landscapes and valley life are contrasted with shots of contemporary Kabul showing the gradual reconstruction and economic changes of an emerging democracy.

Chisenhale Gallery’s six week screening  of Hugonnier’s film is her first solo show in a public gallery in the UK. Ariana tours to Galerie Chantal Crousel, Paris in May and Spacex Gallery, Exeter in May-July. It will be included in Utopia Station, curated by Molly Nesbitt, Hans Ulrich Obrist and Rikrit Tiravanija, at the 50th Venice Biennale in June 2003.

Ariana is commissioned by MW projects and Film and Video Umbrella in association with Chisenhale Gallery. It is supported by the National Touring Programme of the Arts Council of England and is sponsored by Marion and Guy Naggar and Alan Djanogly.

Ariana is part of a season of French photography and video: Made in Paris: Photo/Video taking place in London in May-June 2003, co-ordinated by the French Embassy-Institut Français du Royaume-Uni.

Hugonnier’s previous solo shows include “Anna Hanusova. 27.06.01, 5:40” at Trans Space, New York; Towards Tomorrow, MW projects, London; Fig 1, London; and Galerie Chantal Crousel, Paris. She has been included in numerous international group shows and screenings including Spiritus, Magasin 3 Stockholm, Sweden; Traverees, l’ARC,  Musee d’art moderne de la ville de Paris;   Presentness Is Grace, Arnolfini Gallery, Bristol; Squatters, Fundacao de Serralves, Porto, Portugal; My Generation, Atlantis Gallery, London.