The parks and squares of the capital will be welcoming exhibitions instead of museums and galleries this month. From the Marais to Belleville through Canal Saint-Martin, some of these free outdoor events will be opportunities for an artistic tribute to the 150 years of the Paris Commune.
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“100% L’Expo – Sorties d’écoles”
Until May 16th
Dedicated to contemporary works by recent art school graduates, La Villette’s annual exhibition will be held in the open air, with a mosaic of installations and photographs unveiled for an extended period around the Grande Halle. This year, Paris’ “cultural park” welcomes visual artists Charlotte Denamur, Valentin Guillon, Amandine Guruceaga, Prosper Legault, Louise Mutrel, Ji-Min Park, Gwendoline Perrigueux, and Leila Villmouth. Along the gallery, between Avenue Jean Jaurès and the Canal de l’Ourcq, visitors can also travel through series by photographers Adeline Care, Louis Desnos, Elsa Leydier, Robin Plus, Gaël Silière, and Heng Zheng.
Outdoor around the Grande Halle
La Villette
Parc de la Villette, 75019 Paris
lavillette.com
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Alexis Rosenfeld – “1 Ocean”
Until April 30th
“Without borders, the ocean is unique, and its preservation is everyone’s concern”: that is the reminder of these twin underwater exhibitions by photographer Alexis Rosenfeld, on assignment for the Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO, and in partnership with SNCF Gares & Connexions. On the forecourts of the Gare du Nord and Gare de Lyon stations, twenty large panels take us on a journey to meet the whale sharks, corals, dolphins and others who inhabit half of the blue planet, an ecosystem that is still too little known and “yet vital”. An invitation to “discover the fragile beauty of the ocean, alongside the scientists whose studies aim to better understand and defend it”.
Outdoor in front of both train stations
Gare du Nord
18 Rue de Dunkerque, 75010 Paris
unesco.org – www.garesetconnexions.sncf
Gare de Lyon
Place Louis Armand, 75012 Paris
unesco.org – www.garesetconnexions.sncf
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“Exploration du domaine public”
Until April 30th
This exhibition brings together fifteen artists to “document the evolution of skateboarding through the prism of photography”, and “honor this unique lifestyle, its creative side, but also the richness of Parisian architecture and its plurality of spots”. Conceived in partnership with DPY Editions and the association HOLD, this series of thirty panels unfolds as a timeline illustrating the practice of skateboarding in the capital over the past seven years.
Outdoor on the gates of the square
Square de la Tour Saint-Jacques
Rue de Rivoli, 75004 Paris
quefaire.paris.fr
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“La Commune de Paris – A tribute by the Artists of Ménilmontant”
Events until May 28th and street art works
The Artists of Ménilmontant are paying tribute to the spring of 1871: after all, with Montmartre, Belleville, and the Faubourg Saint-Antoine, the neigborhood was a cradle of the revolution. These events and exhibitions, which will include invited artists, aim to highlight “different creative forms”: painting, drawing, sculpture, etc. From March 18 to May 28, anniversaries of the Paris Commune, the association was initially planning “artistic interventions in the open air, readings, concerts, and animations in schools of the 20th arrondissement”. As we wait for better days for artists, many mural works can already be seen in the open air on the walls of the district, from Place Gambetta to Parc de Belleville.
Outdoor around the neighborhood
Quartier de Ménilmontant
Rue Boyer, Rue Henri Chevreau, Rue de la Mare, Rue des Plâtrières, 75020 Paris
ateliersdemenilmontant.org
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“Les Damnés de la Commune, sur les traces d’une révolution”
Until June 30th
Based on the graphic artworks of Raphaël Meyssan, who collected thousands of 19th century engravings over the last eight years, this open-air exhibition plunges us into the history of the Commune through images of that era. Parisians will surely recognize “streets, squares, buildings that we thought we knew and are loaded with history: the Folies-Belleville where people dreamed of changing the world before the insurrection, the Hôtel de ville that became the beating heart of the city during the Commune, Place Vendôme whose column, symbol of wars, was torn down, the Père-Lachaise and the last fights of the Semaine sanglante…”
Outdoor on the walls of the Pavillon
Pavillon Carré de Baudouin
Rue des Pyrénées & Rue de Ménilmontant, 75020 Paris
quefaire.paris.fr
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“Nous La Commune”
Until April 19th at Mairie de Paris Centre and Paris city hall / April 20th to May 7th at Gare de l’Est
The artist Dugudus has created about fifty large-scale portraits of personalities associated with the Paris Commune (Louise Michel, Gustave Courbet, etc.), as many women and men representing the people of a Paris in revolution. Through this mosaic of figures full of character, the outdoor exhibition “We the Commune” aims to “reflect, in their diversity, the crowd of the insurgents”. The portraits are accompanied by historical anecdotes describing each personality and its contribution to the insurrectionary experience of 1871.
Outdoor on the gates
Mairie du Centre
2 rue Eugène Spiller, 75003 Paris
quefaire.paris.fr
Gare de l’Est
Place du 11 novembre 1918, 75010 Paris
quefaire.paris.fr
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“1871, les 72 jours de la Commune”
Until April 19th at Buttes-Chaumont / April 19th to May 27th at Jardin Villemin
Through twenty outdoor panels, this exhibition revisits the uprising of the spring of 1871, describing in turn its main stages, from the hopes of a nascent revolution to its tragic repression. It also illustrates some of the most significant decisions of the Commune: free and secular education, separation of church and state, new social rights, rent relief, and the requisitioning of vacant apartments to shelter Parisians in need. The exhibition, which can also be viewed online, was produced by the historical committee of the city of Paris under the direction of Roger Martelli, with the contribution of the association Les Amies et Amis de la Commune de Paris.
Outdoor on the gates of the parks
Parc des Buttes-Chaumont
Porte Fessart, rue Botzaris, 75019 Paris
quefaire.paris.fr
Jardin Villemin
14 rue des Récollets, 75010 Paris
quefaire.paris.fr
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The following exhibitions have unfortunately been forced to close their doors to the public, but they remain accessible by appointment under certain conditions. It is also an opportunity to discover the works of these artists online, altough we hope to see them again as soon as possible in the galleries and cultural centers of Paris and elsewhere.
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Festival of young European photography “Circulation(s)”
Until May 2nd
The festival of young European photography Circulation(s) is now partially visible online, with about thirty artists represented for its eleventh year. It is a pleasure to discover the spatial explorations of Joanne Joho and Thomas Lopes, the poetic snapshots of everyday life by Beatriz Banha and Bobby Beasley, the autobiographical stagings of Chiara Cordeschi, the techno-creative self-portraits of Hanne Zaruma, the colorful compositions of Benjamin Schmuck, the sensitive birds of Francesca Todde, and the brilliant experiments of Jesper Boot, who transforms the members of his family into political stereotypes. Despite the second year in a row affected by the pandemic, the talent is still very present among the laureates of the festival!
Professional appointments possible on Friday afternoons
Le Centquatre
5 Rue Curial, 75019 Paris
+33 (0)1 53 35 50 00
www.festival-circulations.com
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Lucille Calmel, Hélène Gugenheim, Lucile Olympe Haute & The Coven Intelligence Program – “Manières d’être vivant·e”
Until May 15th
In Romainville, the artists association Jeune Création celebrates the return of spring with “an encounter with non-human life forms, whether vegetal or animal”. Halfway between ecology, spirituality and technology, “Manières d’être vivant-e” (Ways of Being Alive) seeks to “make room for different stories and experiences of the world we live in”. The exhibition brings together artworks by the collective The Coven Intelligence Program and artists Lucille Calmel, Hélène Gugenheim, and Lucile Olympe Haute.
Professional appointments possible from Wednesday to Friday
Galerie Jeune Création
43 Rue de la Commune de Paris, 93230 Romainville
www.jeunecreation.org
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Odonchimeg Davaadorj – “Phusis”
Until April 17th
By République, Backslash Gallery presents the dreamlike and symbolic worlds born from the imagination of the artist Odonchimeg Davaadorj. Alongside her mysterious portraits and organic paintings, the exhibit features “sketchbooks whose pages will turn over the days”, as well as a large installation linking her creations “first to their environment, by sewing threads, but also between them”. With “Phusis », the artist, now Parisian, signs her second solo exhibition at Backslash. Many of the featured artworks are visible online on the gallery’s website and social media.
Appointments possible
Backslash Gallery
29 Rue Notre Dame de Nazareth, 75003 Paris
+33 (0)9 81 39 60 01
www.backslashgallery.com
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Ingrid Maillard – “Night Symphony”
Until April 10th
In the heart of the Marais, Galerie Sabine Bayasli is hosting a “Night Symphony”, the first solo exhibition of the talented Ingrid Maillard. With the graphite pencil as her medium of choice, the artist draws dreams and mythologycal figures by “reinterpreting these myths in solemn scenes of life”. In a meticulous use of contrasts, she represents “the tensions and connections of interacting bodies, insisting on the characteristic rarities of the anatomy”. Featured artworks are visible online on the gallery’s website and social media.
Appointments possible
Galerie Sabine Bayasli
99 Rue du Temple, 75003 Paris
galeriesabinebayasli.com
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Illustration (reframed) :
Rue de la Mare (Paris 20°) – Street collage by the Artists of Ménilmontant
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