Entry Title: " THE ROAD TO TEPEYAC"
Name: ALINKA echeverria, United Kingdom
Category: Professional, People


Entry Description: The yearly pilgrimage to Tepeyac in Mexico City, is undertaken by approximately six million devout pilgrims on the anniversary of the apparitions of the Virgin of Guadalupe in 1531 to the indigenous man Juan Diego. This journey is a manifestation of the iconic power of the Virgin, whose image was miraculously imposed onto Juan Diego’s cloak. This work not only explores the power of the icon from an anthropological perspective, in the context of Mexican history and contemporary culture, but is also an exploration of the power of imagery at an individual, psychological level; particularly in its relation to faith.

Echeverría is a graduate of The International Center of Photography in New York and has an M.A in Social Anthropology from The University of Edinburgh. In 2011 she was the recipient of the HSBC Prix pour la Photographie and a participant of World Press Photo’s Joop Swart Masterclass. Her work has been featured in over fourty exhibitions worldwide, including solo exhibitions at the 2012 Lima Biennial of Photography, the Moscow Photobiennale, and the upcoming Festival of Light in Buenos Aires and Eb&Flow Gallery in London. Notable collective exhibitions include the 52nd Venice Biennale of Contemporary Art (2007), The New York Photo Festival (2010), Steven Kasher Gallery in New York (2010), Flash Forward Festival in Toronto (2010,2011), Galerie Réverbère in Lyon (2011), Galerie Baudoin Lebon in Paris (2011), Maison de la Photographie in Lille (2011), Maison European de la Photographie in Paris (2011), The Royal College of Art in London (2011), the National Portrait Gallery in London (2011), Bibliothèque Nationale de France François Mitterrand (2011), Fototeca Nacional del INAH and Museo Archivo de la Fotografía in Mexico (2011). Over recent years she has been awarded by PX3 Prix Pour la Photographie, CENTER, Magenta Foundation, American Photo and ASMP among others. Collections include: Beth Rudin DeWoody, Fundación Casa Medina Sidonia, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, HSBC France/Fondation de France, Lehigh University Art Galleries LUAG. Publications include GEO, Marie Claire, Liberation, Le Monde Magazine, Le Monde, The British Journal of Photography, Visura Magazine, PHOTO, Ogoniok and Foam, as well as her first book with a foreword by Christian Caujolle published by Actes Sud in 2011.