To celebrate its 5th anniversary, Espace Musées is hosting the Pompidou Centre
Anne de Turenne: The idea for Espace Musées came from the ambition to ‘recreate Paris’ inside the airport. And as you know, Paris wouldn’t really be Paris without a museum!
Where did the idea for the Espace Musées come from?
Anne de Turenne: The idea for Espace Musées came from the ambition to ‘recreate Paris’ inside the airport. And as you know, Paris wouldn’t really be Paris without a museum!
Espace Musées was launched by a few professionals from the art world –of whom Francis Briest and Serge Lemoine- who committed themselves to this long-term cultural project, along with Paris Aéroport.
Is this concept unique in the world?
AdT: The world’s airports have become real living environments, and it was essential that art was a part of that. There have been several initiatives over the last few years which are similar to Espace Musées; but generally these are permanent installations, as in Athens or Amsterdam, or more often simply making use of photographic reproductions.
Espace Musées is the only airport institution driven by such a dynamic program – and also the only one to present in so many masterpieces loaned by the most prestigious museum institutions.
A few initiatives exist abroad, but usually they are permanent antennas of one institution, and most of them only ever exhibit reproductions or photography.
Five years after this adventure began, what does this partnership with The Pompidou Centre mean for you?
AdT: Our current partnership, -and more particularly the current exhibition curated by Christian Briend and Anna Hiddleston,- is the perfect illustration of what we intended to present at Espace Musées: an exhibition that illustrates the DNA of the institution’s collections, with works by internationally renowned artists sur as Alexander Calder, Nicolas de Staël, Serge Poliakoff and Hans Arp, while also being easily understandable, accessible, entertaining and educational for a large and very diverse audience.
The Chairman of Paris Aéroport, Mr. Augustin de Romanet, was amazed by the number of exhibitions possible due to the extensive stocks of The Pompidou Centre - this could be more than 2000 exhibitions of 20 works of art at a time. He chose to spotlight abstract art, why this choice to begin with?
AdT: While people very often consider abstract art in opposition to figurative art, this exhibition offers a much more nuanced point of view, a true historical perspective that allows visitors to appreciate a form of art -abstraction- which is sometimes misunderstood.
Geometrical abstraction became very popular in Paris after World War II. Its success spread rapidly around the world. This abstraction embodies a desire for objectivity and rational and structured compositions: Forms are pure, sometimes even mathematically calculated, and their shape highly premeditated. Auguste Herbin, of whom a masterpiece is presented in our exhibition, was one of the movement’s prominent figures, if not its leader in the 50’s.
A few artists, such as Gerard Schneider, denounced this “objectivity”. They decided to promote a form of abstract art that was much more “personal.” They favored “the direct expression of their individual emotions.” Their art is seen as more lyrical, closer to Kandinsky’s abstraction, while geometrical abstraction is closer to Mondrian’s heritage.
Paris witnessed a true battle of wits in the 1950’s between what was coined as Hot and Cold art. We just hope passengers won’t miss their flight trying to decide which side to pick!
With the Pompidou Centre, you have now produced 9 exhibitions for Espace Musées. Which have left you with the best memories?
AdT: It’s a wonderful challenge to repeatedly put yourself in the shoes of travellers and to imagine what they would like to see in this space, and how they would like to see it. It is one of the strong points of Espace Musées, to be able to adapt its point of view to each exhibition and through a wide variety of works of art; from a Rodin bronze to a tapestry from Les Gobelins to a Dubuffet sculpture to an antique vase…
Interview by Artcurial
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Carine Decroi