Rebecca Topakian

Rebecca Topakian (born in 1989, Paris region) is a French-Armenian artist living between Maisons-Alfort and Yerevan. She has received several awards and grants, including the Fénéon Prize, the ADIAF Emergence Prize, the national commission Regards du Grand Paris, and the major photography commission from the BnF. Her work has been exhibited in France and abroad (Rencontres d’Arles, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Chicago Cultural Center, Magasins Généraux, Cité Internationale des Arts) and is currently on view at MAC VAL (>4.1.2026), Casino Luxembourg (>14.9.2025), and the Musée départemental Albert Kahn (>7.9.2025).

Iode is a project that explores the natural landscapes around Mougins and Cannes as carriers of a ghostly memory — that of the Resistance. Drawing inspiration from my grandfather’s journey — he fled Nazi-occupied Paris for Cannes and joined the Resistance — and from the underwater photographs taken by André Steiner — who also took refuge in Cannes and whose images were used for intelligence purposes — I wish to investigate the potential for resistance embodied in the underwater flora along the coast of Cannes. The smell of the sea, that of iodine and tides, originates from pheromones that enable algae to communicate and defend themselves against predators. This discreet language, diffused in particles through water and air, evokes the Resistance networks that, scattered across the hinterland and the coastline, communicated in invisible ways.

With the support of DRAC PACA.