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The Grand Palais newsletter |
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n°7, December 2008 |
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Front pageImages in the night Bringing down the curtain on the French presidency of the European Council, the Grand Palais is staging a spectacular entitled Dans la nuit, des images (Images in the night). The Nave of the Grand Palais has always been at the leading edge of innovation, with a special place for the visual arts. The event will include films, videos, interactive installations, and projections by artists from all 27 EU nations, and also guests from Switzerland, Belarus, China, Canada, the USA, and South Africa. All new technologies can be a means of expression and have been adopted by today's artists. The great majority of the 130 works on display have been produced in Europe, notably in France, at the Fresnoy National Contemporary Arts Studio, by either young students or guest artists. The show will feature existing works by artists like Bill Viola and Bob Wilson, and specially commissioned pieces. The projection will be breathtaking, transforming the floor, the walls, the glass roof and even the exterior façade of the Grand Palais into one gigantic kaleidoscope. The show has been designed to appeal to the broadest possible public and is perfectly timed to reflect the festive New Year mood. Entrance free. Three questions for...Alain Fleischer, art director of Dans la nuit, des images Alain Fleischer © Danièle Schirman Quadriges: What are you hoping to reveal to the public through this event? Our aim is to show the public, even those who come totally unprepared, that contemporary art can be truly fascinating, that today's works can be disconcerting, provocative, and beautiful, and that today's artists deal with timeless themes (portraits, the body, the city, nature, dream, the imagination), using modern media: cinema, digital technology, video, etc. Quadriges: There will be so many works to see, so is there any order that you would recommend visitors try to follow? We decided against creating a set itinerary. The show is not intended to be educational in the conventional sense, but there are different areas: an area where bodies are in suspension (falling, floating, swimming, etc.); a city zone (with urban areas, districts in ruins, visions of the future); another area dedicated to objects, etc. I would suggest that visitors try the panoramic view from the belvedere platform, some 25 feet above the ground level, specially designed for the occasion. This is a great viewpoint, where they can stand back from some exhibits, while being on a level with some of the suspended works, and see the works projected on the floor that can only be appreciated from above. After that, I would suggest that they simply head for the works that spontaneously attract them the most and let their own personal taste take over. There is no particular lesson to learn. The focus is on pleasure. Quadriges: In what ways has the architecture of the Grand Palais shaped the exhibition? On one hand, the gigantic volume of the Nave was an invitation to occupy the floor space, the height and the exterior façade to really make use of the three dimensions. On the other, these are works that have to be viewed in dark conditions, but are here exhibited under a glass roof. That's why we decided to do the event after dark. Finally, we looked back to the origins of the Grand Palais in 1900 and the Universal Exhibition, just five years after the invention of cinema. It's a venue that is made to celebrate innovation and modern times. At night, images provide a link back to the tradition of the Grand Palais. That's why we decided to reconstruct a cabinet of curiosities, a "palace of marvels" that resonates with the imagination that went into the Universal Exhibitions. Tuesdays in the Grand Palais On November 25, the Grand Palais inaugurated a new weekly event: Tuesdays in the Grand Palais. For an hour and a half, every Tuesday evening, a public debate with a moderator and reputed specialists will be devoted to a contemporary topic. Organised in partnership with the prestigious publisher PUF (Presses universitaires de France), the first cycle of four debates will focus on human rights, marking the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of the Rights of Man. The first session asked the question "Do biotechnologies carry a threat to human rights?" and provoked an impassioned and captivating exchange of ideas, of great scientific quality, at once informative and entertaining. The next theme, debated on December 2 was devoted to artistic freedom, examining the question: "Should there be any limits to creative freedom?" The programme is both ambitious yet accessible to a very broad audience, while the venue — the new Grand Palais projection room — befits the importance of the issues under discussion. FocusCultural initiativesOpportunities for youth The Nave balcony offers these students from the lycée Jacques-Feyder a bird’s eye view of preparations for the FIAC art show. © D.R. An important aspect of the Grand Palais' policy to promote equality of opportunity has been initiatives in favour of residents of the less privileged Paris suburbs. Since September 2008, it has been working on three bilateral projects with secondary schools in Seine-Saint-Denis, on the northern edge of the city. These are Lycée Jacques-Feyder in Épinay-sur Seine, Lycée Jean-Renoir in Bondy, and LycéeAlfred-Nobel in Clichy-sous-Bois. The aim is to give young people an insight into the life of a major cultural institution and give them a chance to feel at home in the Grand Palais. After a classroom presentation by their teachers, pupils have been invited to tour the Grand Palais to get a real feeling for the place… and be impressed! They have been asked to consider a range of issues. How is an event conceived and organised? What are the missions of a public cultural institution? What is contemporary art? From ongoing projects to the setting up of the FIAC exhibition and the Biennale des antiquaires, these young people from Seine-Saint-Denis have been able to learn all there is to know about the daily life of the Grand Palais! |
A word from the presidentLast July we had the honour of hosting the Paris Summit for the Mediterranean, followed by The European City of Science, and the Grand Palais will again be decked out in the colours of Europe. To bring the French presidency of the European Union to a close with an appropriate sense of circumstance, we shall be transforming the Nave into a gigantic kaleidoscope called Dans la nuit, des images. The festive event, designed to appeal to the broadest possible public, will celebrate the marriage of art and technology, something the Grand Palais has been doing since the day it was built! Yves Saint-Geours President of the Établissement public du Grand Palais What's new? Le Grand Palais, monument-capitale, published by Gallimard in its Découvertes series. This new book looks back over the fascinating history of the Grand Palais ,from the competitive bids for the 1900 Universal Exhibition through a century of events that have attracted millions of visitors, and the trials and tribulations endured by the monument until its recent renaissance ... The text is by Yves Saint-Geours, and the book contains a host of as yet unpublished illustrations. Due soon. Don't miss thisDans la nuit, des images December 18 – 31 Nave of the Grand Palais An outstanding event dedicated to the visual arts, bringing down the curtain on the French presidency of the European Union. For fourteen nights, the facade, floor, walls and glass roof of the Nave will be alight with a veritable firework display of visual and digital arts. A huge party that will kick into action as soon as night falls. AgendaYann Arthus-Bertrand : 6 billion others January 15 – February 12 Nave of the Grand Palais 5,000 people filmed all over the world talk about turning points in their lives, tell amusing or poignant anecdotes and share their beliefs. A universal project by Yann Arthus-Bertrand, and a hymn to the brotherhood of Man. Exhibition and auction of the Yves Saint Laurent - Pierre Bergé collection February 21 – 25 Nave of the Grand Palais For the first time in its history, the Grand Palais will be staging a public auction. The fantastic collection of works of art assembled by Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé over a period of 50 years will be on show to the public before going under the auctioneer's hammer. Practical informationRER : ligne C / station Invalides Bus : lignes 28, 42, 52, 72, 73, 80, 83, 93 Vélib : Station n° 8029, 1 av. Franklin-D.-Roosevelt / n° 8001, av. Dutuit Parkings : Rond-Point des Champs-Élysées, place de la Concorde, parc François-Ier, Alma Georges-V, Champs-Élysées Lincoln, Matignon. Personnes à mobilité réduite : accès avenue Winston-Churchill |
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Executive editor: Jean-Paul Cluzel, President La Réunion des musées nationaux – Grand Palais Chief editor: Marie Senk © Grand Palais, 2011 |
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