All the Things They Carry: Exhibition opening 29 January 2026 at La Galerie des Photographes, Paris

PARIS, Jan. 13, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- The exhibition Toutes les choses qu'elles portent (All the Things They Carry) brings together four female artists whose works question what women continue to carry today: visible and invisible burdens, symbolic legacies, social constraints, and intimate experiences. Against a backdrop of weakening women's rights, it explores the tension between creation, motherhood, and individuation: how to invent one's own language and assert a singular subjectivity without being reduced to supposedly universal roles. Rather than idealizing motherhood or caregiving, the exhibition reveals the ambivalences, gray areas, and resistance necessary to "carry without losing oneself." Curator Katharina Holderegger has selected works from specific series by each artist, which together form a polyphonic narrative of contemporary femininity.

The work of Roxana Savin from the series I'll be late tonight (2012–2020) and God Created Woman (2022-ongoing) observes both the domestic life of expatriate residences, where perfection and silence reveal the invisible efforts of women, and connect these current realities to religious imaginaries by questioning the sacralization of the feminine and the control of bodies. The diptychs from the series Welcome/Welcome Back (1996–2021) by Elizabeth Hansen, recreate self-portraits fifteen years apart to create a dialogue between the young New York artist and the woman who has become a mother, revealing what changes and what remains in female identity over time. These life-size portraits turn the gaze back on the viewer and challenge objectification by questioning the way in which the female body is burdened with social and emotional expectations. With the series The (Dis-)Appearing Woman (2014–2015), Sarah Knill-Jones addresses the oscillation between appearance and disappearance through partially covered painted portraits of Western women living in Azerbaijan, evoking exile, suspension of identity and reduction to traditionally assigned roles, while a later audiovisual confrontation with native-born women lends both a voice. The works of Ingrid Butterer from the Every Day is Mother's Day Project (2017–ongoing) project, notably Milk Hole Abstraction 10.2025 (2025), address the aftermath of domestic violence: spilled or encapsulated milk becomes a metaphor for care, fear, and the construction of new boundaries leading from survival to reconstruction.

Together, these works affirm that women do not cease to be subjects when they become mothers, wives, migrants, or actors in political and religious issues; they invent ways to continue to exist in a world that too often wants them to be symbols rather than people.

Toutes les chose qu'elles portent (All the Things They Carry) will be open at la Galerie des Photographes at 29 rue Keller, 75011 Paris, from January 29-February 7, 2026. The gallery will be open during these dates from Tuesday-Sunday 2-6 pm (closed Monday).

Related Events:

January 29, 6-9 pm - Opening Reception

January 30, 7 pm - Rebuilding Home – Boundaries, Repair, and Autonomy after Abuse – Conversation between the curator Katharina Holderegger and the artist Ingrid Butterer (in English) 

January 31, 3 pm – Guided visit with curator Katharina Holderegger (in French)

February 5, 7 pm - Crafting a Future with Violated Liberty and Justice Forall – participatory craft performance inspired by sewing bees and knitting circles; with artists Elizabeth Hansen and Raelle Myrick-Hodges. This event (in English) will be filmed. RSVP info@ellesportent.com

February 6, 7 pm - Home, Elsewhere – Women, Care, and the Instability of Belonging – Conversation between the curator Katharina Holderegger and the artists Sarah Knill-Jones and Roxana Savin (in English). Followed by a film screening at 8 pm Sarah Knill-Jones, (Dis)Appearing Woman (2015), 34' February 7, 3 pm - Guided visit with curator Katharina Holderegger (in English)
                2-6 pm - Closing reception with the curator and artists present

Curated by Katharina Holderegger (Switzerland/France) and featuring work by:
Roxana Savin (Switzerland/Romania)
Elizabeth Hansen (Switzerland/USA)
Sarah Knill-Jones (France/UK)
Ingrid Buterer (USA)

ellesportent.com

Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2860513/God_Created_Woman_by_Roxana_Savin.jpg

Media contact: 
Katharina Holderegger
info@ellesportent.com