Eyes to Fly With is the first major retrospective exhibition in Belgium dedicated to the renowned Mexican photographer Graciela Iturbide. Her work explores themes such as identity, social relationships, and transience.

The exhibition title, Eyes to Fly With, is inspired by one of Iturbide’s self-portraits and also reflects her vision of photography as a way to explore both herself and the world. For Iturbide, photography is a liberating practice that opens up new perspectives on reality.

The exhibition reveals, among other things, how women in the Zapotec community of Oaxaca play vital social and economic roles. By placing these women at the centre of her images, Iturbide challenges traditional gender stereotypes. In the series White Fence, she examines how identity is shaped by ancestry, living conditions, and migration, and how communities continue to evolve over time.
Iturbide also captures rituals, spirituality, and everyday traditions. Highlights include the series La Matanza, which focuses on slaughter and sacrifice, as well as her work on the Seri people. The exhibition also features her intimate photographs of Frida Kahlo’s bathroom, which remained sealed for many years, alongside rarely exhibited works from India and Bangladesh.

Developed in close collaboration with the artist, the exhibition brings together approximately 160 works, ranging from iconic black-and-white photographs to rarely seen vintage prints, colour photographs, and contact sheets. Together, they offer a unique insight into more than fifty years of Iturbide’s photographic practice.

Eyes to Fly With, curated by Sophia Greiff and Melissa Harris, is a project of the C/O Berlin Foundation.

Artists: Graciela Iturbide