Discourse and Reality, the theme of the tenth edition of the Temps d’Images Festival, brings together the concerns we shared with you over the years. Different for each edition, the themes – presented artistically according to the major issues of the moment – have one thing in common: the need to imagine the future.

In order to do this, we set ourselves to take a better look at our present and past. Throughout the years, Temps d’Images (The Time of Images) became the image of our time, an attempt to understand the contemporary world through various forms of art. Because we imagined something would follow after post-bankruptcy, we searched for new working tools, but we came up with the conflict between discourse and reality. We focused on the promise of a future, which is better than the present, and on what is actually happening before our eyes.

The discourse undergoes many refinements, from presenting halves of truths to becoming fiction. But our relationship with the reality is also changing because reality itself is fluid, has multiple perspectives, with simultaneous “truths”. These truths can become difficult to manage after we get accustomed to “one truth”, “one reality”, and “one type of discourse”.

It is increasingly difficult to distinguish between real news and fake news, since the truth becomes an increasingly complex structure. Discourse creates images that are no longer related to reality, produces simulacra. The emotional outweighs the rational, the subjective overcomes the objective. In this troubled landscape, how much of what we know can be trusted anymore? Is there something safe we can bet on? What landmarks can help us? The image itself is a discourse, and we try to connect it with these plural realities, to signal their existence, to create a context in which the dominant discourse loses its relevance.

For 10 editions we tried to remain lucid by integrating emotions (towards significant events), we tried not to lose touch with reality. Starting now, we pass the baton to you!