FIAC, France’s most important contemporary art fair has announced their new showcase for emerging international galleries.The official satellite event will present some 60 galleries from 12 countries specialising in contemporary art. (OFF)ICIELLE at FIAC will highlight new territories: young galleries and newcomers to the international art scene; emerging artists and those whose historic contribution has been overlooked. The venue Les Docks will contain a space spanning 3,700 m2.
The event will provide visitors with the opportunity to discover galleries whose exhibition programs demonstrate a particular aptitude for decoding the language of contemporary creation and a gift for revealing talents, old and new. For this first edition, the selection committee was composed of curators Hou Hanru (Curator/Artistic Director of the MAXXI, Rome), Anne Dressen (Curator ARC/Musée d’art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Paris), Florence Ostende (curator and art historian, Paris), Olivier Antoine (Founder/Director of the gallery Art: Concept, Paris) and collector Josée Gensollen (Marseille). FIAC reinforces the development of its renowned off-site exhibitions programme, Hors les Murs. This year the Hors les Murs programmes invest Paris on various sites along the Seine linking the venues of (OFF)ICIELLE and FIAC.
Monumental artworks, performances, video, film projections and talks will be presented. In association with the Domaine National du Louvre et des Tuileries, an ensemble of outdoor works will be presented in the Tuileries Garden. An exhibition focusing on themes such as nature, biodiversity and the environment will be held in the Jardin des Plantes and the Museum national d’Histoire naturelle. In collaboration with the Comité Vendôme and its members, the prestigious Place Vendôme will house monumental outdoor projects. Artists’ films will be presented in the Auditorium of the Grand Palais and, in collaboration with the Fondation d’entreprise Ricard, in the Cinéphémère. FIAC pursues its ongoing programmes of artists’ performances. Ouvertures/Openings, a programme of performances presented jointly with the Louvre Museum, will feature Jerome Bel, Simone Forti & Charlemagne Palestine and Joan Jonas. In Process, the programme of performances dedicated to the emerging contemporary scene, will present Laure Prouvost, Kipwani Kiwanga and Emilie Pitoiset among others. Hors les Murs Programmes will be held over six days in the Grand Palais and the various sites of FIAC and (OFF)ICIELLE. The inauguration of several major Parisian institutions will surround FIAC’s 41st edition and the launch of (OFF)ICIELLE. Housed in a majestic new Frank Gehry-designed building, the Fondation Louis Vuitton will open.
The first edition of (OFF)ICIELLE is the opportunity to discover an exceptional artistic programme in the neighborhood surrounding Les Docks – Cité de la Mode et du Design and in Paris. In the context of the Parcours Officiel, private institutional visits and exclusive events are proposed to the VIP guests of the fair. La maison rouge—Fondation Antoine de Galbert will present the collection of Bruno Decharme, specialized in Outsider Art from the mid-19th century to today. Other partner institutions in the programme include the Arab World Institute, which will present an important event on Moroccan contemporary artistic creation; Bétonsalon – Centre d’art et de recherche presenting Camille Henrot; the Cinémathèque française—Musée du Cinéma and the MAC / VAL—Musée d’art contemporain du Val-de-Marne. Linking the Grand Palais, the different Hors les Murs venues invested by (OFF)ICIELLE & FIAC and Les Docks – Cité de la Mode et du Design, river transport shuttles operated by Batobus will circulate to and from the Alexander III landing on the banks of the river Seine at the foot of the Grand Palais and the purpose-built landing deck of Les Docks – Cité de la Mode et du Design, inaugurated on this occasion.
Les Docks – Cité de la Mode et du Design extends the public promenades along the Seine to its rooftop gardens overlooking the river. The ensemble inscribes itself within the urban landscape as an open space conducive to exchange and diversity, culture and recreation; a veritable rendez-vous for Parisian creative forces.
Inaugurated in 1907 with the explicit purpose of contributing to the commercial growth of Paris, the reinforced concrete construction – a radically new concept for the times – housed the city’s first modern docks. With hindsight its identity as an historic monument rooted in the very sources of modern architecture is apparent.
In 2005 the architects Jacob+MacFarlane were selected for the rehabilitation of the site. Inspired by the flowing waters of the Seine, their project addresses the characteristics of this prototype of rationalist architecture in an uncompromising gesture which reveals and sublimes the existing structure.
FIAC’s FIAC’s official satellite fair, will be held in Paris, (OFF)ICIELLE will be held at Les Docks in Paris from Wednesday, October 22 through Sunday, October 26 at Les Docks – Cité de la Mode et du Design. The private view will take place on Tuesday, October 21.