Regards du Grand Paris exhibition

From a collaboration between Ateliers Médicis, Centre national des arts plastiques (CNAP), Les Magasins Généraux, Société du Grand Paris and Musée Carnavalet - Histoire de Paris, Regards du Grand Paris shows works produced during the first five years (2016 to 2021) of the Regards du Grand Paris national photographic commission, a Ministry of Culture initiative led by Ateliers Médicis in partnership with CNAP. The exhibition returns to districts of Greater Paris where the photographs — which are being shown in public for the first time — originated.

A multi-dimensional exhibition

The 35 projects by the commissioned artists will go on show at Les Magasins Généraux in Pantin and at Musée Carnavalet - Histoire de Paris. They will also be presented at multiple outdoor locations and public spaces across Greater Paris, in collaboration with the exhibition’s numerous partners. These include the companies and authorities that are implementing new transit and mobility solutions for Greater Paris, thanks to whom, from June 24, 2022, the photos will be displayed on hoardings at worksites for the future Grand Paris Express rapid transit network.

By interweaving the photographers’ individual perspectives, this national commission offers a diversity of artistically engaged viewpoints. It reaches out to the inhabitants of Greater Paris, as well as anyone with an interest in the transformations apace in the region or in contemporary photography.

A multi-environment exhibition

➜ At Les Magasins Généraux
Works from the first five years of the Regards du Grand Paris photographic commission are staged so that viewers can explore, step by step, the spaces, landscapes and cultures that are shaping the construction of Greater Paris.

They are presented in five places, representing five perspectives, which borrow from the everyday urban lexicon: “the street” crosses “the square”, connects with “the park”, continues past “the monuments” and carries on along “the river”. These spaces form the boundaries of a visitor path that can be explored endlessly and in any order; like a walk through a global city.

➜ At Musée Carnavalet - Histoire de Paris
The exhibition continues as part of the permanent display at Musée Carnavalet - Histoire de Paris. Presented in the contemporary creation gallery, it brings an expanded view of the city’s history and future.

Through a selection of works produced during the first five years of the Regards du Grand Paris photographic commission, visitors to Musée Carnavalet - Histoire de Paris can discover changing landscapes and the lives of the men and women who live there. Through these images, social and political realities interact at the heart of a global territory that takes shape in the historic city of Paris and beyond.

➜ In Greater Paris
The exhibition extends its geographic scope in the form of posters displayed in public spaces that are part of the daily lives of the inhabitants of Greater Paris.

The photographs will be shown on hoardings at some fifteen worksites for the stations that will serve the future Grand Paris Express rapid transit network.

They will also go on display on the walls of Ateliers Médicis, Centre Pompidou, Centre National de la Danse and Station - Gare des Mines; on the railings at Paris City Hall, Saint-Ange railway bridge and Le Grand Parquet artist residency centre; inside the Métropole du Grand Paris pavilion at the Architecture and Landscaping Biennial (Bap !) in Versailles, at Bibliothèque Publique d’Information, in Blanchette Park in Massy (near the future conservation and creation hub for the Centre Pompidou in Ile-de-France), inside the Environment and Sustainability Resource Centres at Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Paris-Orly airports, as well as in eight Paris Métro stations.

Also

— Publication
Published to coincide with the exhibition, this first volume presents the first five years of the Regards du Grand Paris national photographic commission. Jointly published by Centre national des arts plastiques (CNAP), Ateliers Médicis and Les Éditions Textuel.
With contributions by Frédérique Aït-Touati, Alexandra Arènes, Axelle Grégoire, Romain Bertrand, Meriem Chabani, Emanuele Coccia, Kaoutar Harchi, Anne de Mondenard and Magali Nachtergael.

— Outreach
A facilitation programme, developed in collaboration with BIM - Bureau Indépendant de Médiation Culturelle, engages the exhibition’s various audiences through workshops and guided tours at Les Magasins Généraux, Musée Carnavalet and outdoor sites. Urban walking tours around Greater Paris are also planned, in partnership with Enlarge Your Paris.

— Events
• Thursday June 23 from 6pm: preview and inaugural conversation with AOC media at Les Magasins Généraux followed by a party at Station - Gare des Mines
• Friday June 24: preview at Ateliers Médicis
• Tuesday June 28: preview at Musée Carnavalet - Histoire de Paris
• Friday 16 and Saturday 17 September: conversations with the artists and others.

— Exhibition design
Exhibition design at Les Magasins Généraux is by Rebeyrol & Ollivier architectural studio.