Exiles: Artists Perspectives
The Louvre-Lens Museum Upcoming Exhibition: Opening on September 25th
Dans Kimsooja, Bottari Truck-Migrateurs, 2007, video © Vitry-sur-Seine, MAC VAL © MACVAL - DR. Courtesy.
Opening on September 25th at The Louvre-Lens, Exiles: Artists Perspectives is a new exhibition that delves into the themes of departure, displacement, and the experiences of artists in exile. Curated by Dominique de Font-Réaulx, general curator and project manager for the President-director of the Musée du Louvre, with exhibition design by Maciej Fiszer, this showcase brings together the works and stories of artists from various eras who have faced the realities of exile.
Supported by prestigious institutions such as the Musée d’Orsay, Centre Pompidou, Musée national d'art moderne/Centre de création industrielle, MAC VAL - Musée d'art contemporain du Val-de-Marne, and the Musée national de l’histoire de l’immigration, this exhibition provides a profound exploration of the impact of displacement on artistic expression. Exiles: Artists Perspectives will be on view until January 20th, 2025, offering visitors a unique opportunity to engage with the rich and complex narratives of artists in exile.
‘Exile has two sides: on one side it is about loss, withdrawal, dispossession, and even in extreme cases despair; on the other it is about a quest for the self and creating the world, migrating towards a destiny to come, inventing this future, the promise of tomorrows and the accomplishing of this world in the surveying of worlds.’
- Etienne Tassin, 2017
Marc Chagall, Esquisse pour Adam et Eve chassés du paradis, 1954-1966, Huile sur palier, Nice, Musée national Marc Chagall © RM Grand Palais /n Stéphane Maréchalle. Courtesy.
About the exhibition:
What effect does exile have on creation? Does it render it impossible, or make it different and distinctive?
EXILES. Artist perspectives explores the links between creation and the feeling of exile. Exile is commonly understood as a forced departure from one's home country, for political, economic, health or climatic reasons. Be it punishment or an act of survival, exile is at once an individual and a collective experience which this exhibition seeks to place in the context of a long and varied history. Based on the great founding narratives, the project draws on a number of disciplines. It focuses on the ways in which artistic expression reveals and illustrates the 4 human experience of exile; it is a journey through time and space but has a particular focus on contemporary art too.
The artists presented in this exhibition do not view exile from a distance. From Homer to Ovide, Jacques Louis David, Elisabeth Vigée Le Brun, Victor Hugo, Gustave Courbet, Marc Chagall, Nil Yalter, Kimsooja, Yan Pei-Ming, Joana Hadjithomas et Khalil Joreige, Barthélémy Toguo or Marco Godinho, they examine concepts of departure, displacement, the complex nature of arriving somewhere and being uprooted, but they also consider the pivotal importance of meeting others and the notion of welcome. What brings us together and what drives us apart in exile? A collection of objects and stories from partner organisations in the surrounding coalfield area is part of the exhibition’s journey. These bear witness to the history of the Hauts- de-France region.
Featuring more than 200 works, this exhibition is conceived as an immersive experience, highlighting artistic, pictorial, literary, poetic and philosophical creation, building bridges too between ancient art and contemporary creativity.
About the The Louvre-Lens:
In 2003, the Louvre embarked on a mission to establish a new satellite museum—a “Louvre away from Paris”—where a fresh, innovative approach could be implemented. The enthusiasm and support from the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region (now part of Hauts-de-France) and local leaders made Lens the perfect location for this endeavor.
The Louvre-Lens museum opened in December 2012, marking a significant step in making the Louvre’s national collections more accessible to a broader audience. Beyond its role in showcasing these collections, the Louvre-Lens represents a key element in the Louvre’s strategy for regional development and aligns with the French Ministry of Culture’s policy of decentralization.
Designed by Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa of the Japanese architecture firm Sanaa, the Louvre-Lens features a main exhibition hall known as the Galerie du Temps. This 3,000 m² open gallery showcases over 200 works of art on loan from the Louvre in Paris, spanning from the 4th millennium BC to the mid-19th century.
Richard Baquié, Nulle part est un endroit, 1989, MAC VAL - Musée d’Art Contemporain du Val-de-Marne © MAC VAL - DR. Courtesy.
Practical Information:
EXILES. Artist perspectives exhibition
from 25 september 2024 to 20 january 2025
Open daily from 10am to 6pm, except Tuesday
Free for under 18 / 18-25 : 6€ / full price : 11€
Louvre-Lens
99 rue Paul Bert
62300 Lens
T: +33 (0)3 21 18 62 62 / www.louvrelens.fr