Karen Knorr Inhabits the Castle
Château d’Azay-le-Rideau, France
13 June – 1 November 2026

Karen Knorr Inhabits the Castle is on view now at Château d’Azay-le-Rideau in France, curated by Claude d’Anthenaise and supported by Les Filles du Calvaire. Spanning over forty years of photographs, the retrospective is presented as part of the celebrations marking the Bicentenary of Photography, organised by the Ministry of Culture, in partnership with the Centre des monuments nationaux.

Since the late 1970’s, Karen Knorr has been exploring the relationship between the home and its inhabitants. From the hushed interiors of London’s middle classes, where the decor becomes a silent portrait of those who inhabit it, to museums and cultural institutions, her images question the way in which places shape identities and behaviours. From the 2000’s onwards, Knorr’s work has featured wild animals introduced into heritage sites. Through digital manipulation and, in this case, a taxidermy installation, tigers, deer, peacocks and monkeys disrupt the solemn order of the architecture and reveal, with a touch of irony, the tension between Nature and Culture. At the Château d’Azay-le-Rideau, her photographs engage in a dialogue with the historical furnishings and décor, transforming the château into an intensely lived-in space, situated between memory, fiction and the presence of animals.