21 January to 7 May Show opening Friday 20 January 2006, from 8 p.m. to midnight. 20 January to 27 January 2006: a week of nonstop events

Adel Abdessemed Boris Achour Saâdane Afif Kader Attia Olivier Babin Jules de Balincourt Virginie Barré Rebecca Bournigault Mircea Cantor Alain Decler...
Author: Ross Stanley
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Adel Abdessemed Boris Achour Saâdane Afif Kader Attia Olivier Babin Jules de Balincourt Virginie Barré Rebecca Bournigault Mircea Cantor Alain Declercq Leandro Erlich Laurent Grasso Loris Gréaud Kolkoz Arnaud Labelle-Rojoux Matthieu Laurette Michael Lin Mathieu Mercier Jean-François Moriceau et Petra Mrzyk Nicolas Moulin Valérie Mréjen Bruno Peinado Bruno Serralongue Nathalie Talec Agnès Thurnauer Barthélémy Toguo Tatiana Trouvé Fabien Verschaere Wang Du … 2

21 January to 7 May 2006 Show opening Friday 20 January 2006, from 8 p.m. to midnight 20 January to 27 January 2006: a week of nonstop events

PA LA I S D E TO K YO, SITE DE CRÉATION CONTEMPORAINE, FROM 21 JANUARY TO 7 MAY 2006

director of communication Sofianne Le Bourhis T +33 1 47 23 54 57 sofianne@palais de tokyo.com assisted by Mylène Ferrand [email protected] press contact [email protected] T +33 1 47 23 52 00 curators Nicolas Bourriaud Jérôme Sans with the collaboration of Marc Sanchez Akiko Miki Claire Staebler Daria Joubert assisted by Martin Kiefer Anaël Pigeat

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"Notre histoire…" is a show that looks to the future, an exhibition that embodies tomorrow's memory today. Emerging artists in France already constitute the very stuff of our future. Because of its commitment, the Palais de Tokyo is following a history as it is being written in the present. "Notre histoire…" has indeed been made with the featured artists and attests to a human adventure that began in 2002. That adventure is the story of a judgment and a certain bias, i.e., to detect today the emerging artists who will be creating the art of the 21st century. "Notre histoire…" reflects that commitment and mission. For the occasion, the Palais de Tokyo has scheduled a week of nonstop events, free to all, from 20 to 27 January 2006.

A French art scene Focused on the world of 29 up-and-coming artists, "Notre histoire…" is designed as a commitment to a developing French art scene. "Notre histoire…" makes choices and outlines a viewpoint that anchors the Palais de Tokyo's artistic program in the future. But "Notre histoire…" is more than the outcome of the experience of working with artists, it is both the seeds of a history to be written in the present and a resolute way of engaging with the future today. "Notre histoire…" isn't simply 29 "representative" artists that the Palais de Tokyo is showing to the public, it is 29 stories that form a future history. It is a matter of taking control of "Notre histoire…"

PA LA I S D E TO K YO, SITE DE CRÉATION CONTEMPORAINE, FROM 21 JANUARY TO 7 MAY 2006

Palais de Tokyo, site de création contemporaine 13, avenue du Président Wilson 75116 Paris T +33 1 47 23 38 86 T +33 1 47 20 15 31 www.palaisdetokyo.com [email protected] open from noon to midnight everyday except Monday Metro Alma Marceau or Iéna Bus: the 32, 42, 63, 72, 80, 82, or 92 line RER C: Alma-Marceau Admission • Full admission: 6 euros • Reduced admission: 4.5 euros (over 60 years old; under 26; large families) • Special admission for artists, art teachers and art students, and for everyone on the first Sunday of each month: 1 euro • Imagine "R" admission: 3 euros

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A premise

A capital of memory for the future

Placing contemporary art once again at the center of today's world, "Notre histoire…" doesn't feature artists' views "on" the world and isn't a reflection on artists' place in that world today. Rather, the show aims to define how emerging French artists take part in elaborating French society from within. What the artists are producing is an outlook for constructing the world. They don't react to the world, they make it and provide it with its prospects. "Notre histoire…" attests to this repositioning of the figure of the artist, who is no longer a proud loner, riding along astride reality, but is in fact the supplier of a matrix that anticipates reality. The premise of "Notre histoire…" is that artists have more than just something to say. "Notre histoire…" affirms that it is up to each person to get them to speak. Works of art are our world's grammar: they are the syntactic tools that each of us must be capable of using in order to formulate the demands of the future.

"Notre histoire…" features major works by emerging artists on the French art scene. Whether recent or old, these works form a three-dimensional landscape that takes shape throughout the whole of the Palais de Tokyo's exhibition galleries. Thoroughly imbued with a futuristic culture that integrates science fiction, science, and speculative narrative, the work of Adel Abdessemed, Nicolas Moulin, Loris Gréaud, Kolkoz, Mathieu Mercier, Laurent Grasso, Nathalie Talec, Virginie Barré, Tatiana Trouvé, Saâdane Afif and Leandro Erlich functions on the basis of some special effect that distorts, subverts, and reshapes reality, the better to foreshadow it. The reality in question is also the reality of political, social, and economic events, which are examined and reworked in pieces by Bruno Serralongue, Alain Declerq, Mircea Cantor, Wang Du, Matthieu Laurette, and Agnès Thurnauer. From one dimension to another, this questioning is pursued further in a pop/popular style that gives greater leeway to the developments of the imagination in the works of Michael Lin, Fabien Verschaere, Arnaud Labelle-Rojoux, Barthélémy Toguo, Olivier Babin, Kader Attia, Valérie Mréjen, Boris Achour, Rebecca Bournigault, Bruno Peinado, Jules de Balincourt, and JeanFrançois Moriceau and Petra Mrzyk.

From one series to the next, each work, through its resonance, goes well beyond the dimension it is seemingly assigned and enters several fields simultaneously. From futurist art that hinges on special effects, to current affairs, to pop/popular culture, "Notre histoire…" sketches the outlines of a memory captured in real life, the memory of a not-so-distant future.

PA LA I S D E TO K YO, SITE DE CRÉATION CONTEMPORAINE, FROM 21 JANUARY TO 7 MAY 2006

Exhibition partners

Media partners

A Vision

A platform for reflection

"Notre histoire…" is the history of an artistic, institutional, and human commitment, the commitment made by the Palais de Tokyo. "Notre histoire…" is a show that embraces, in all its subjectivity, the vision incarnated by the Palais de Tokyo since its inception. What the Palais de Tokyo has created and brought to the French art scene since opening in 2002 is rendered here in a condensed form that will serve as a stimulating perspective.

Refusing to make do with merely exhibiting a certain contemporary art scene, "Notre histoire…" presents it as matter for reflection. The show will bring together around its principal theme numerous intellectuals, scientists, researchers, and entrepreneurs, all of whom are emblematic of our age. "Notre histoire…" thus takes shape as a puzzle that must be put together by several people at once. It is a game. The show is part of a process of rendering the individual responsible that enables contemporary art, through discussions, lectures, round tables, and debates, to exist as the power of an unavoidable proposition. Beyond a simple inventory of what is, the aim is to write "Notre histoire…" in a defined cross-disciplinary manner.

"Notre histoire…" doesn't just take stock of what is out there, it leads to a suspension, to ellipses…

Permanent partners



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• agence conseil en communication

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Adel Abdessemed Boris Achour Saâdane Afif Kader Attia Olivier Babin Jules de Balincourt Virginie Barré Rebecca Bournigault Mircea Cantor Alain Declercq Leandro Erlich Laurent Grasso Loris Gréaud Kolkoz Arnaud Labelle-Rojoux Valérie Mréjen Matthieu Laurette Michael Lin Mathieu Mercier Jean-François Moriceau et Petra Mrzyk Nicolas Moulin Bruno Peinado Bruno Serralongue Nathalie Talec Agnès Thurnauer Barthélémy Toguo Tatiana Trouvé Fabien Verschaere Wang Du… 6

Listening to "Notre histoire…" Both creative and evolving, audio accompaniments to "Notre histoire…" are available for visiting the show. You can discover a multivoiced "Notre histoire…" with sound works by artists featured in the exhibition and commentary by intellectuals taking part in the special event week that follows the show's opening. At the museum reception area you can download your choice of audio tracks onto your USB flash drive, your mobile phone, or your MP3 player. You can also rent an MP3 player at the museum reception.

PA LA I S D E TO K YO, SITE DE CRÉATION CONTEMPORAINE, FROM 21 JANUARY TO 7 MAY 2006

Adel Abdessemed Adel Abdessemed's videos, performances, and installations question social, political, and cultural limits in both Muslim and Western societies. Shot through with a powerful sensitivity and steeped in literature and philosophy, Abdessemed's works always propose a reflection on human nature. For "Notre histoire…" Abdessemed has chosen to present a work that crystallizes life's ephemeral aspect, representing death in the form of a subtle, grandiose memento mori. Adel Abdessemed was born in Constantine (Algeria) in 1971. He lives and works in Paris.

Habibi, 2003, installation view at Frac ChampagneArdenne, collection MAMCO, Geneva

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PA LA I S D E TO K YO, SITE DE CRÉATION CONTEMPORAINE, FROM 21 JANUARY TO 7 MAY 2006

Boris Achour In his work, Boris Achour likes to question reality, lightly subverting it through slight touches and minute shifts. Antirevolutionary in its way, yet profoundly critical, his art takes shapes as playful and gently ironic interventions, like his "Actions few" or his tracts that proclaim, "The artist Boris Achour (unknown the world over)!!! He can do nothing for you!". As in his "Cosmos" video library (which is made up of covers of imaginary films, all of which are called "Cosmos"), Achour has developed a reflection on the proliferation of signs and the way they are classified and put in hierarchies because of our cultural habits. Occasionally monumental in size, his pieces work like generators of forms and questions. For "Notre histoire…" Achour is presenting the first episode of a new series of works called "Conatus." The series, which is meant to grow, plays with the codes of sculpture and mobiles as they stand on display in the exhibition space. Boris Achour was born in Marseille in 1966. He lives and works in Paris.

Operation Restore Poetry, 2005

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PA LA I S D E TO K YO, SITE DE CRÉATION CONTEMPORAINE, FROM 21 JANUARY TO 7 MAY 2006

Saâdane Afif Saâdane Afif works with the concepts of displacement and contrast. His pieces hum with multiple meanings and function by using collusion. He employs objects, models, installations, sounds, and writing to classify the unclassifiable, and mirror - in the work itself - the dialog between the viewer and the artist. That dialog is continuously fed with various allusions and is infiltrated from all quarters by historical, psychological, social, and cultural elements. For "Notre histoire…" Affif has put together a new installation that borrows the codes of the fun house and the county fair. "Lost World" is a piece of art that is unsettling - literally and figuratively. Saâdane Afif was born in Vendôme in 1970. He lives and works in Paris and Berlin.

Laffs in the Dark, 2005 View of the Turin Triennale "The Pantagruel Syndrome"

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PA LA I S D E TO K YO, SITE DE CRÉATION CONTEMPORAINE, FROM 21 JANUARY TO 7 MAY 2006

Kader Attia Using photographs, slide shows, videos, and installations, Kader Attia tackles the questions of uprootedness, identity, sexuality, and the socio-economic relationships that define our lives. His works are like so many case studies on such subjects as immigration, ghetto neighborhoods, luxury, or religion, with a content that is often strongly political. For "Notre histoire…" Attia has opted to present an installation that touches on both Sufism and hip hop culture, two worlds that, as the artist shows us, aren't as different as it might first appear. With this piece, Attia broadens his reflection on detachment vis-àvis questions of belonging. Kader Attia was born in Dugny in 1970. He lives and works in Paris.

The Loop, 2005 The Loop, preparatory drawing, 2005

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PA LA I S D E TO K YO, SITE DE CRÉATION CONTEMPORAINE, FROM 21 JANUARY TO 7 MAY 2006

Olivier Babin Olivier Babin is interested in the way the cultural industry, advertising, and economic and political marketing appropriate forms that come directly from abstract, conceptual, or minimalist art. He works by direct appropriation of historical forms (cover, remake, tribute), and by a "secondary appropriation" of those forms as they are used by popular culture. Through painting, sculpture, and performance, he employs humor and displacement to create "areas of autonomy" that are both poetic and disillusioned. For "Notre histoire…" Babin has undertaken a new phase in his series of works called "Towards infinite freshness." His contribution features a painting and a collection of very "refreshing" sculptures inspired by the shape of the watermelon... Olivier Babin was born in 1975. He lives and works in Paris.

Towards Infinite Freshness, 2005 Art for the very last people, 2005

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PA LA I S D E TO K YO, SITE DE CRÉATION CONTEMPORAINE, FROM 21 JANUARY TO 7 MAY 2006

Jules de Balincourt The French artist Jules de Balincourt, who is based in New York and Berlin, has been developing a figurative pictorial practice that blends apocalyptic vision, derision, and urban fresco, which he casts in a colorful yet critical light. Decrying economic, social, and political constraints in a naïve yet lucid manner, de Balincourt tells quirky, even prophetic contemporary fables that exist at the point where realism borders on symbolism. His art, an enigmatic folk vision that is stamped by a bankrupt America, takes the form of both sculptures and installations. For "Notre histoire…" de Balincourt is presenting a series of recent paintings. Jules de Balincourt was born in Paris en 1972. He lives in Brooklyn and Berlin.

U.S. World Studies #1, 2003

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PA LA I S D E TO K YO, SITE DE CRÉATION CONTEMPORAINE, FROM 21 JANUARY TO 7 MAY 2006

Virginie Barré Virginie Barré poses hyperrealist sculptures in various contexts. Moving between fiction, the minor news item, and reality, the artist navigates a filmic world that is akin to B-movies and film noir, even the universe of master filmmakers like Hitchcock and Kubrick. While her works border on an occasionally bloody realism, the absurdity of the situations conjured up makes viewers shiver and smile. They become witnesses to crime scenes that in a way have to be solved. For "Notre histoire…" Barré conjures up both humor and fear in an off-beat form that borders on the absurd. Virginie Barré was born in Quimper in 1970. She lives and works in Douarnenez.

Fatbat, 2005 Écarlate, 2004

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PA LA IS D E TO K YO, SITE DE CRÉATION CONTEMPORAINE, FROM 21 JANUARY TO 7 MAY 2006

Rebecca Bournigault Rebecca Bournigault is part of the generation of artists who are developing a pluridisciplinary approach to art. She is a watercolorist, draftsman, painter, photographer, and videomaker all in one. Her work stands out as an art of portraiture somewhere between fiction and reality. Her references come essentially from the world of music, but she also creates pieces in which commonplaces are featured and the question of the Other is a recurrent theme. Her work fittingly offers situations where others are revealed through their silences or stories. For "Notre histoire…" Bournigault is showing a selection of recent watercolors and photographs. Rebecca Bournigault was born in Colmar in 1970. She lives and works in Paris.

Boy Meet Girl, watercolor, 2002

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PA LA I S D E TO K YO, SITE DE CRÉATION CONTEMPORAINE, FROM 21 JANUARY TO 7 MAY 2006

Mircea Cantor A spearhead of the young Romanian art scene, Mircea Cantor, who elected to live in Paris in 2000, has been developing a body of work as a visual artist as well as a graphic designer and publisher with Version Magazine. This young artist is fascinated by travel and the bridges spanning cultures, languages and spaces, and one often finds in his work that desire for investigating reality, for research and negociation in the field. For "Notre histoire…" Cantor has decided to show two projects, including the video installation "The Landscape is changing," that features a demonstration whose participants brandish mirrors in place of banners. Mircea Cantor was born in Romania in 1977. He lives and works in Paris.

The Landscape Is Changing, 2003

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PA LA I S D E TO K YO, SITE DE CRÉATION CONTEMPORAINE, FROM 21 JANUARY TO 7 MAY 2006

Alain Declercq The various guises that power assumes, the contemporary forms of oppression and security, and manipulation by the media lie at the heart of Alain Declercq's concerns. Since the early 1990s, his work has involved collecting clues, provoking micro-dysfunctions, and reversing situations in order to disturb our representations of authority. For "Notre histoire…" Declercq is presenting a new phase in his work following the creation of his last docu-fiction film "Mike." Alain Declercq was born in Moulins in 1969. He lives and works in Paris.

Mike on the Top of the World Trade Center, 2001

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PA LA I S D E TO K YO, SITE DE CRÉATION CONTEMPORAINE, FROM 21 JANUARY TO 7 MAY 2006

Leandro Erlich Leandro Erlich's installations function like traps made up of fake mirrors, inversions, and trompe l'œil, in which the viewer is invited to share the odd experience of his presence or disappearance, and to go beyond the optical games in order to explore the depths of a psychological reality that is murkier than it seems. For "Notre histoire…" Erlich plays once again on optical and special effects in a new and original work called smoking room. Leandro Erlich was born in Buenos Aires in 1973. He lives and works in Paris.

La pilita, 1998

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PA LA I S D E TO K YO, SITE DE CRÉATION CONTEMPORAINE, FROM 21 JANUARY TO 7 MAY 2006

Laurent Grasso Laurent Grasso uses video, sound, and light to modify our conception of things and their manifestation. The materials he works with are often immaterial and invisible, such as electromagnetic waves. Grasso also makes use of film techniques to create something other than a film. "Radio Ghost," "Tout est possible," and "Projection" offer us mental spaces that influence our perception of reality and notion of time. For "Notre histoire…" Grasso has decided to show a new work created for this exhibition. Laurent Grasso was born in Mulhouse in 1972. He lives and works in Paris.

Projection, 2005

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PA LA I S D E TO K YO, SITE DE CRÉATION CONTEMPORAINE, FROM 21 JANUARY TO 7 MAY 2006

Loris Gréaud Loris Gréaud likes to work on the incredibly slight, between states, and zones that are beyond control, laying out avenues of discovery that the viewer must take over. He summons different elements and fields of competence (historians, architects, graphic designers, musicians) in a chain of collaborations in which he serves as the final producer. Each project thus becomes a composition, design, architecture, film or story, i.e., a hybrid form that offers visitors a space for improvisation and action in a story that exceeds their comprehension. For "Notre histoire…" Gréaud is presenting "Devils Tower," a monumental sculpture that questions our perception of stability. Loris Gréaud was born in 1979. He lives and works in Paris.

Devil's Tower Satelite, 2005 Mobile sculpture

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PA LA I S D E TO K YO, SITE DE CRÉATION CONTEMPORAINE, FROM 21 JANUARY TO 7 MAY 2006

Kolkoz Kolkoz is the name of the artistic duo Benjamin Moreau and Samuel Boutruche. Under this pseudonym, the two artists dream up projects that go beyond merely producing objects, since they make concrete a concept of life that constitutes their daily existence: reality or virtuality? In works by Kolkoz, the two worlds blend and the sham fades into "real" sequences. For "Notre histoire…" Kolkoz has chosen to present an installation in the form of a livingroom that allows visitors to view their vacation films, which have been completely redone in 3D. Benjamin Moreau was born in Paris in 1973. Samuel Boutruche was born in Avranches in 1972. They live and work in Paris.

Les films de vacances, 2005 Installation view, Les films de vacances, Maison des Arts, Malakoff, 2005

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PA LA I S D E TO K YO, SITE DE CRÉATION CONTEMPORAINE, FROM 21 JANUARY TO 7 MAY 2006

Arnaud Labelle-Rojoux An exhilarating artist, a well-known figure on the performance scene and a spoilsport, Arnaud Labelle-Rojoux clearly descends from the likes of Marcel Duchamp, Dada, the Pieds Nickelés and Fluxus. He questions art's limits via the ludicrous and a sly rereading of the 20th century's avant-garde movements. Although best known for his performances, Labelle-Rojoux has also created installations that stand cultural hierarchies on their head in a great remix in which the high-brow is revised and updated with popular culture. For "Notre histoire…" Labelle-Rojoux has produced a vast painting that sheds a subversive contemporary light, through an accumulation of motifs, disgressions and trompe l'œil references, on art from the1960s to the present. Arnaud Labelle-Rojoux was born in 1950. He lives and works in Paris.

Exhibition view C'est quoi dégueulasse, Galerie Loevenbruck, Paris, 2005

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PA LA I S D E TO K YO, SITE DE CRÉATION CONTEMPORAINE, FROM 21 JANUARY TO 7 MAY 2006

Matthieu Laurette The shortcomings of the commercial system, the interstices of social power, and the opportunities of the media networks mark off the field of Matthieu Laurette's activity. He questions the artist's presence in the "spectacular merchant society." Like a rovider of some service, he offers, for example, recipes that enable their users to create a media identity for themselves. In 1993, with his taking part in the French television game show "Tournez manège," he declared himself a multimedia artist. Since then he has quite regularly used television as a tool and workplace. For "Notre histoire…" Laurette has created "Money back," a large-scale installation through which he aims to present his system of social pirating that enables one to live more cheaply by enjoying the advertising one-upmanship of the consumer society, like a form of anarchist social security. Matthieu Laurette was born in Villeneuve Saint-Georges in 1970. He lives and works in Paris.

Moneyback Life ! Mobile Information Stand for Moneyback products (version#1), 2001

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PA LA I S D E TO K YO, SITE DE CRÉATION CONTEMPORAINE, FROM 21 JANUARY TO 7 MAY 2006

Michael Lin Michael Lin's works cover walls and floors using large floral or geometrical motifs inspired by traditional Taiwanese fabrics. His installations, designed specifically for the architecture of the exhibition space, often become meeting places, venues to be lived in and enjoyed, before being a painting to be looked at. Viewers are plunged into a welcoming, comfortable "all over" artwork. The artist likes to introduce into his work the notion of use, lay claim to a different relationship between viewers and painting, and propose a transgression that occurs through the direct contact and mobilization of the body. For "Notre histoire…" Lin has done a monumental mural painting inspired by childhood imagery that immerses the viewer in a magical world. Michael Lin was born in Taiwan in 1959. He lives and works in Paris.

wall-painting project, 2005

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PA LA I S D E TO K YO, SITE DE CRÉATION CONTEMPORAINE, FROM 21 JANUARY TO 7 MAY 2006

Mathieu Mercier Sculpture, installation, and painting are the means Mathieu Mercier employs to study a form, even rework it to the point of exhaustion. Using design or architecture with the aim of exploring the stereotypes of modernity and the way popular culture recycles them, Mercier's work is able to summon up Mondrian's paintings as a banal plastic garden chair because they are, as the artist sees it, fed by the same logic. For "Notre histoire…" Mercier has pulled off a reappropriation of easily recognizable forms in order to transform them with a touch of irony. Mathieu Mercier was born in Conflans-SainteHonorine in 1970. He lives and works in Berlin and Paris.

Sans titre, 2005

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PA LA I S D E TO K YO, SITE DE CRÉATION CONTEMPORAINE, FROM 21 JANUARY TO 7 MAY 2006

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Jean-François Moriceau et Petra Mrzyk Master draftsmen practicing their art on paper and walls, and in wallpaper and video animation, Jean-François Moriceau and Petra Mrzyk capture gestures, attitudes, settings, and bits of daily life, which they transpose into little scenes that are funny as well as disturbing. Their drawings look like a fluid stroll through the fantasies of a certain age, namely our own, in a spirit that conjures up both Odilon Redon and Sempé, Alain Séchas and Surrealism.

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For "Notre histoire…" Moriceau and Mrzyk have created a large wall drawing. Jean-François Moriceau and Petra Mrzyk were born in 1976 and 1974. They live and work in Paris. 4 2

1>4, Exhibition view Docteur No, Villa Arson, Nice, 2004/2005 5, Untitled, 2005 6, Untitled, exhibition view I Still Believe in Miracles, volet 1/1, dessins sans papier, Couvent des Cordeliers, ARC/Musée d’art moderne de la ville de Paris, 2005

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PA LA I S D E TO K YO, SITE DE CRÉATION CONTEMPORAINE, FROM 21 JANUARY TO 7 MAY 2006

Nicolas Moulin Reappropriating landscape, whether deserted or urban, Nicolas Moulin takes sites that inspire him and empties them of all human presence. By reworking his photos, disembodying the terrain and rendering space virtual, Moulin creates a spare world that blends the imaginary and technology. The uncanny quality that rises from these views and their studied cool renders fiction more real than one might think. Moulin's evanescent shots, with their look of some futurist archeology, impart an implicit political tinge to his work. For "Notre histoire…" Moulin has made his scientifico-virtual data storage the material of a reflection on the future of humans in the spaces they inhabit by their absence. Thanks to an installation that reactivates the artist's databanks, virtual wandering becomes a component of a new way of "being-in-theworld." Nicolas Moulin was born in Paris in 1970. He lives and works in Paris and Berlin.

Aviafluenza, 2005

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PA LA I S D E TO K YO, SITE DE CRÉATION CONTEMPORAINE, FROM 21 JANUARY TO 7 MAY 2006

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Valérie Mréjen Valérie Mréjen is a video filmmaker, photographer, and writer. Her work, which lies at a point where several artistic fields meet, is a continuous research in biography, both her own, specifically her relationships with the men in her life (her father, grandfather, and lover are the subjects of her books) and others'. These stories, whether filmed or written, are short and sober, always hitting the mark with a delicate touch. Focusing on the most banal things that life has to offer, the artist questions anonymous individuals about their daily existence, the relationship between men and women, their religious convictions.

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For "Notre histoire…" Mréjen has decided to present a new series of videos on the theme of the diary and the photo romance novel, describing in the form of a parody a day in the life of a woman at home. Valérie Mréjen was born in Paris in 1969. She lives and works in Paris. 2

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Dieu, video still, 2004 Sans titre, video still, 2005 Sans titre, video still, 2005 Oops, video still, 2002 Portraits Filmés 2, 2003

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PA LA I S D E TO K YO, SITE DE CRÉATION CONTEMPORAINE, FROM 21 JANUARY TO 7 MAY 2006

Bruno Peinado In the face of dominant cultures which he says excludes him, Bruno Peinado has opted for the strategy of the varied and the mixed through a kind of crossbreeding and chance contamination. The craftsmanlike aspect of his art and the use of commonplace objects and recognizable logos assume a social dimension in his œuvre. Peinado's works represent a way of freeing oneself from models and stereotypes, and reappropriation proves to be a point of resistence. For "Notre histoire…" Peinado has created a new installation. Bruno Peinado was born in Montpellier in 1970. He lives and works in Douarnenez.

Exhibition view Perpetuum Mobile, Palais de Tokyo, Paris, 2004

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PA LA I S D E TO K YO, SITE DE CRÉATION CONTEMPORAINE, FROM 21 JANUARY TO 7 MAY 2006

Bruno Serralongue Bruno Serralongue moves through the world of utopias and social struggles, melding writing and photography. His subjects are all sustained by a sociological and political vision. For some ten years now, the artist has traveled to the four corners of the world to practice his brand of reportage. From sordid minor events along the Riviera and neo-Zapatistas in Chiapas, to unrestrained restructuring in Korea and the retrocession of Hong Kong, he works like an unconventional journalist who is representing the world with a camera. For "Notre histoire…" Serralongue has contributed a new series of photos shot in Tunis during the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS). Bruno Serralongue was born in Châtellerault in 1968. He lives and works in Paris.

Delegates at Rally against US imperialism, Kranti Maidan, Mumbai 2004, 2004 Portrait d'Ernesto Guevara, Santa Clara, 16.10.1997, 1997

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PA LA I S D E TO K YO, SITE DE CRÉATION CONTEMPORAINE, FROM 21 JANUARY TO 7 MAY 2006

Nathalie Talec Working simultaneously in several fields, Nathalie Talec has forged a singular, varied persona. Sensitive to the experience of the double as a space for science/fiction, she has always introduced an element of play into her world. Nowadays she doesn't shy from challenging the clichés of the contemporary audiovisuel spectacle by making televisual reality her battlefield and area of activity. For "Notre histoire…" Talec has laid the corner stone of a vast project that will transform the world of art into an exciting sitcom. Nathalie Talec was born in 1960. She lives and works in Paris.

People Fiction, 2005

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PA LA I S D E TO K YO, SITE DE CRÉATION CONTEMPORAINE, FROM 21 JANUARY TO 7 MAY 2006

Agnès Thurnauer To Agnès Thurnauer, paintings are a space for contemporary dialog that is nurtured by material from modern life in order to form a continuous, interconnected whole. Her pictures are reminiscent of daily trips, images picked up in the street, snippets of conversation and newspaper articles that concretely reflect the way the mind operates, linking multiple objects that are apparently without connection and the different meanings they give rise to. The artist approaches the image as a "between" place, a place of links, of meetings, not of breaks. For "Notre histoire…" Thurnauer has produced a new series of large-format paintings dealing with the question of history and the avant-garde. Agnès Thurnauer was born in 1962. She lives and works in Paris.

Remake, 2005

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PA LA I S D E TO K YO, SITE DE CRÉATION CONTEMPORAINE, FROM 21 JANUARY TO 7 MAY 2006

Barthélémy Toguo Barthélémy Toguo uses drawing, photography, performance, sculpture, and video to forge an artistic language that draws its inspiration from his travels and encounters with others. The world of his art is an autobiographical vision and a critical observation of the world, both beautiful and monstruous. Toguo has developed a body of work that remains close to social concerns and focused on human emotions. It is an art whose obsession is Life. For "Notre histoire…" Toguo has created "The Promised Land #2" (2006), a piece that takes the form of a strange landing strip that is entirely covered with a range of materials, stones, bottles, etc., which prevent an airplane from taking off. This installation conjures up a reality, an invitation to travel, dream, and the quest for an elsewhere. Barthélémy Toguo was born in Cameroon in 1967. He lives and works in Paris and Cameroon.

The Promised Land, 2001/2002

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PA LA IS D E TO K YO, SITE DE CRÉATION CONTEMPORAINE, FROM 21 JANUARY TO 7 MAY 2006

Tatiana Trouvé A poetic and sometimes somber world on a small scale, the work of Tatiana Trouvé stands apart for its forms as well as its surreal vocabulary, which lies somewhere between sports equipment, an office space, and an SM torture room. Since 1997, the artist has placed her various projects and activites at the mysterious and Kafkaesque BAI (Bureau d'activités implicites, or Bureau of Implicit Activities), which features micro-architectures (the "Polders" and "Modules") and records ghost activities, i.e., the artist's desires, movements, researche, failures, and aspirations. Trouvé describes her work as drawings in space done with materials that she produces herself and then arranges as complex and deliberately unusable interiors. For "Notre histoire…" Trouvé has returned to her installation "Polder" (red beads), first shown at the "Djinns" exhibition at the c.n.e.a.i in Chatou. It is a collection of works designed like mental spaces linked to memory. Tatiana Trouvé was born in Italy in 1968. She lives and works in Paris.

Polder (perles rouges), 2005 Exhibition view Djinns, c.n.e.a.i, Chatou, France

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PA LA I S D E TO K YO, SITE DE CRÉATION CONTEMPORAINE, FROM 21 JANUARY TO 7 MAY 2006

Fabien Verschaere Fabien Verschaere likes to tell stories, anecdotes, real and invented deeds which he interprets and passes on as fairy tales or mythic tales, thus becoming an intercessor between different realities. Each of his projects is the occasion for a multitude of stories in images offered to the public via a sometimes chaotic, playful, and overloaded visit. His work swings between the public and the private spheres, blending poetry and cryptography and endlessly renewing its own vocabulary. For "Notre histoire…" Verschaere has built a surprising magic house. Fabien Verschaere was born in Vincennes in 1975. He lives and works in Paris.

Once Upon No Time, 2005 A Novel for Life

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PA LA I S D E TO K YO, SITE DE CRÉATION CONTEMPORAINE, FROM 21 JANUARY TO 7 MAY 2006

Wang Du "I want to be a media," says Wang Du, whose work forms a biting critique of mass media's power in contemporary society. The artist's way of working is simple and spectacular. Using the traditional processes of sculpture and casting, he lends three-dimensional volume to two-dimensional pictures borrowed from the mass media, giving fleeting images extension in space (depth, body) and time. For "Notre histoire…" Wang Du has decided to present a large environment called "Luxe populaire" (Popular Luxury), which visitors are invited to immerse themselves in. The viewer moves through a gigantic landscape of newspapers spread over the floor, from which sculptures representing crumpled press clippings arise. Wang Du was born in China in 1956. He lives and works in Paris.

Luxe populaire, 2001

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A voyage to the very center of contemporary art: 8 days of nonstop exploration. A week of free events that are open to one and all.

Everyday between 21 and 27 Jan.: > Free admission to all from noon to midnight… > Every hour, free guided visits by our mediators > Free audioguides: the soundtrack to "Notre histoire…" > The film "Palais de Tokyo - Notre histoire..." the key moments of the Palais de Tokyo on a giant screen… > Special menus that change everyday at the TokyoEat restaurant > Surprise events...

"Notre histoire…" is a wager on the future, making emerging art in France an important cultural issue that has to be grasped in the real world now. Because the show is indeed an attempt to grapple with "Notre histoire…" the Palais de Tokyo has put together a week of nonstop events. At every hour of the day, throughout the Palais de Tokyo's exhibition space and in the company of artists, intellectuels, scientists, musicians, and performers, visitors will discover a whole series of events, from concerts and performances to roundtable discussions and workshops, a wealth of activity transforming the Palais de Tokyo into a living venue, a media unto itself. It is an exceptional program that has been scheduled, blending genres, encouraging multiple approaches, and offering the opportunity to think about, experience, and feel contemporary art today. A week of events in order to write "Notre histoire…" together. (Program still under development)

Episode 1 :

Friday

Episode 2 :

Saturday

Episode 3 :

Sunday

Episode 4 :

Monday

Episode 5 :

Tuesday

Episode 6 :

Wednesday

Episode 7 :

Thursday

Episode 8 :

Friday

... along with new episodes unfolding continuously until 7 May !!! 36

Episode 1 : Friday 20 january

From 10 a.m. to noon Press visit From 6 to 8 p.m. VIP opening + Pommery cocktail From 8 p.m. to midnight Opening to the general public + Tokyo Sandwich Market Scheduled in three phases (for the press, VIPs, and the general public), the show opening is to be a high point for starting the festivities: "Notre histoire…" opens 20 January, unveiling iconic and spectacular works by 29 emerging artists.

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Beginning at 5 p.m. The Pavillon's "Hut" in the the Palais de Tokyo entrance The Pavillon, the Palais de Tokyo's educational department that has been home to various artists in residence since the venue first opened, will present "The Pavillon's Hut," based on a proposal by the art critic and guest curator Pascal Beausse. The entrance to the Palais will display a hut, which is to be created by an architect. This architectural object will create a site in an area of everflowing movement, delineating a specific space for contributions by the current residents of the Pavillon, the Palais de Tokyo's art laboratory, as well as by a selection of French or France-based artists who have taken part in earlier residencies at the Pavillon. Rather than a show, the hut is a program of different types of events that will change daily and include performances, artists' interventions, presentations, and lots more… Each artist is invited to imagine his or her way of occupying the Pavillon's hut for the space of a day.

Episode 2 : Saturday 21 january

Episode 3 : Sunday 22 january

From noon to 6 p.m. A workshop every hour with artists featured in the show (Q&As, performances, etc.)

From noon to 6 p.m. Workshop every hour with the show's artists (Q&As, performances,…)

A unique chance set at a furious pace to meet the artists who are making the art of today and tomorrow. A powerful spotlight on the artists, the true trailblazers of our age, who will be meeting with the public by turns every hour for discussions, performances, and workshops.

4 p.m. Conférence Art / Science Catherine Vidal, neurobiologist

4 p.m. Talk given by the philospher Michel Onfray (to be confirmed) on the theme of "Art and philosophy," with examples drawn from "Notre histoire…" 9 p.m. Concert (artist or French band) Format: electro light / laptop)

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5 p.m. Art / Science lecture Trinh Xuan Tuan, astrophysicist (to be confirmed) 6 p.m. Forum: Michel Maffesoli, sociologist, dialog with the show's artists 9 p.m. Outdoor concert along the colonnade and the square. (Format: mulled wine/discomobile. Dance)

From noon to midnight In conjunction with each of the special week's events, "Notre histoire…" will be open to the public everyday from noon to midnight. "Notre histoire…" features the work of 29 artists from the emerging French art scene, on display throughout the whole of the Palais de Tokyo's galleries.

Episode 4 : Monday 23 january

From 3 to 5 p.m. "Emerging art / emerging economy" Symposium The Palais de Tokyo is a platform for exchanging views and a catalyst for ideas that looks to explore the convergence of emerging art and emerging economies. Brought together for a symposium on the notion of emergence, economists, business leaders and personalities from the art world will examine, at the crossroads of art and the economy, the inescapable pertinence of contemporary art to building together the world of tomorrow. Participants (to be confirmed): business leaders, partners, patrons, Michel Henochsberg, Edgar Morin, Nicolas Bourriaud, Jean-Baptiste de Bellescize, Pierre-Michel Menger.

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From 7 to 8:30 p.m. "The Forum of the Year," on the theme "Emerging art, emerging economy: a stake for France" (organised by Radio Classique and Le Monde)

From noon to midnight In conjunction with each of the special week's events, "Notre histoire…" will be open to the public everyday from noon to midnight. "Notre histoire…" features the work of 29 artists from the emerging French art scene, on display throughout the whole of the Palais de Tokyo's galleries.

Episode 5 : Tuesday 24 january

From noon to 6 p.m. "One piece, one hour, one mediator" Once every hour, a Palais de Tokyo mediator will talk about a practical example of his or her work based on a selected piece from "Notre histoire…" How far does mediation go? How do we grasp a work of art? How much should be left up to the visitor? What is the role of critical thinking? Once an hour throughout the afternoon, each of the Palais's mediators will offer answers to these situations, which are as varied as there are art forms and attitudes.

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From 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. "Display of a work of art: artists surrendered to the public" Every exhibition, by definition, is an offer made to museum visitors. The work of art then enters the system of public presentation in an institutional framework (a venue) and precise timetable. When an artist is invited to work with the Palais de Tokyo, he or she knows that the invitation is a chance not only to confront an impressive building but also to embrace a special relationship with the public. And the Palais de Tokyo's architecture does indeed lead to a freer, even looser behavior on the part of visitors. Several artists who have experienced the Palais de Tokyo venue will talk about that peculiar moment that arises when an artwork is put on display. They will be joined by various mediators who have lived with the artworks during this time.

From noon to midnight In conjunction with each of the special week's events, "Notre histoire…" will be open to the public everyday from noon to midnight. "Notre histoire…" features the work of 29 artists from the emerging French art scene, on display throughout the whole of the Palais de Tokyo's galleries.

Episode 6 : Wednesday 25 january From 10 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Tok Tok activities. An essential event for three- to ten-year-olds, Tok Tok activities are winning over ever growing numbers of children. Inventive, playful, and full of fun, Tok Tok activities take place right there among current shows and make contemporary art a truly fun time. On 25 January, the Palais de Tokyo will play host to over 600 children and their parents to celebrate an unforgettable anniversary, the Palais de Tokyo's first four years. With offbeat studios, goofy guided tours, workshops with the artists, a crazy contemporary art picnic, and a bubble-filled snacktime, to make "Notre histoire…" a fountain of youth starting now. Tok Tok studios 9 Tok Tok studios for six- to ten-year-olds 9 themes: selfportrait / fashion / music / contemporary art / performance / sculpture... at 10 a.m., 1:30 p.m., and 4:30 p.m.; length: 90 min. Tok Tok tales 2 Tok Tok tales for three- to six-year-olds at 11:30 a.m., 2:30 p.m. and 5 p.m.; length: 90 min.

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The workshop A studio workshop by an artist designed for the whole family and taking place in the exhibition galleries. Throughout the day, whether alone, in twos and threes, or even as a large family, come and add your touches to a collective work of art. length: nonstop throughout the day from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tours With its potential for mystery and outlandishness, "Notre histoire…" offers the chance to do a genuine fiction-tour! Tok Tok tours, for leisure centers, junior high and high schools. at 10:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m.; length: 90 min. The picnic A contemporary art picnic to learn that food, too, is an art material to artists, that you can play with colors and forms, and that getting together around the table is a choice moment for conviviality and social interaction. Lets play with all our senses and actually dig in to some art at the contemporary art picnic. from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. Snacktime A birthday snack to celebrate the Palais de Tokyo's 4th anniversary. At 4 years old, we know how to walk, talk, laugh, and cry. At 4, we can do a forward roll. Children will blow out all together the 4 candles of a Palais that is no longer "small" or "mid-sized," but indeed all grown up! from 4:00 to 4:30 p.m.

4:30 p.m. Professional encounters What approach to contemporary art should one take with children? The Palais de Tokyo invites student teachers in France's teacher training colleges to come and discover "Notre histoire…" and discuss with the Palais's teaching department ways of approaching contemporary art with a young audience. Future teachers will benefit from the Tok Tok studio workshops under way by observing art practices that can be done with children in primary school. 6 p.m. Teacher tours of "Notre histoire..." Eager to respond to the pedagogical demands of instructors, the Palais de Tokyo is offering teachers a workshop on the themes that are touched on in the new show. This tour is the chance for teachers to consider the links between their programs and the show's themes. The Palais's teaching staff will be on hand to answer any questions on putting together a visit to the Palais de Tokyo, or devising with the individual instructor a specific project for a class visit. A teaching kit for "Notre histoire…" will be distributed to teachers, activities leaders, and art instructors.

From 5 p.m. to midnight Round-table conferences "But what are the critics up to?!" will feature all the critics and curators of importance today. A joint event with the École nationale supérieure d'arts de Paris-Cergy. Moderators: Bernard Marcadé, René Denizot, and Nicolas Bourriaud. "Notre histoire…" will be an occasion for professionals from the contemporary art field to examine the French art scene today and kick off the debate. What ways of thinking about art are valid for the 21st century? How is critical thought at the heart of an art school? An exceptional conference that will bring out the real issues and new themes, as a way of drafting "Notre histoire…" together.

From noon to midnight In conjunction with each of the special week's events, "Notre histoire…" will be open to the public everyday from noon to midnight. "Notre histoire…" features the work of 29 artists from the emerging French art scene, on display throughout the whole of the Palais de Tokyo's galleries.

Episode 7 : Thursday 26 january

From noon to 6 p.m. Art publishing today. The Palais de Tokyo bookshop has carte blanche. Publishing catalogs and books, graphic design, the new practices coming from Web culture-what is at stake today in distributing contemporary art? What place does the Palais de Tokyo occupy in this landscape? In partnership with the bookshop, the Palais de Tokyo reveals in all their diversity the new visual forms that accompany art at its most contemporary. An explosive panorama of art publishing today and the artistic issues it raises are at the heart of this day-long event, which visitors will want to peruse page by page. Q&As with graphic designers, publishers, and artists are scheduled throughout the day.

6 p.m. Mehdi Belhaj Kacem. Lecture "Pop philosophy and contemporary art," with examples drawn from "Notre histoire…" A cross between Alain Badiou, Gilles Deleuze, and Jacques Lacan, the philosopher-writer-actor Mehdi Belhaj Kacem has been elaborating a complexfree pop philosophy that doesn't shy from tackling in a conceptual light video games, pornography, the crisis in fatherhood, youth subcultures, Fight Club, or gangsta hip hop. As part of the events around "Notre histoire…" the author goes over the esthetic games that have been introduced by the emerging French art scene.

8 p.m. Bernard Lahire. Lecture "Towards a new paradigm, the culture of individuals," with examples drawn from "Notre histoire…" In his famous 2004 book La culture des individus, (Culture of individuals) Bernard Lahire shook up received wisdom touching on the opposition of elite and popular cultures. By closely observing the practices surrounding leisure, going out, and cultural consumption, Lahire subtly demonstrates how we have entered the age of "dissonance," i.e. a time when the same individual engages in a great balancing act between legitimate culture (literature, opera, theater, fine arts) and "low" culture (television, leisure activities, hobbies).

9:30 p.m. "Three developing projects: the Pompidou Center in Metz, the Louvre in Lens, the Quai Branly Museum." Three new institutions are rising in or around Paris that place visitors deliberately at the heart of the institution. The Louvre in Lens in 2009, the Pompidou Center in Metz in 2007, and the Quai Branly Museum in Paris in 2006 are meant to be a response to the notion of decentralization, and a new way of displaying art. This new generation of museums is attempting to bring off the difficult task of blending scientific ambitions, pedagogical concerns, and the esthetic experience thanks to architectural designs that have a strong commitment to these ideals. What is the visitor's role in defining these projects? In what way do architects integrate these expectations? From noon to midnight In conjunction with each of the special week's events, "Notre histoire…" will be open to the public everyday from noon to midnight. "Notre histoire…" features the work of 29 artists from the emerging French art scene, on display throughout the whole of the Palais de Tokyo's galleries.

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Episode 8 : Friday 27 january

10 a.m. to 6 p.m. "The Palais de Tokyo, 4 years of emerging art."

From noon to midnight Nonstop screenings of the Palais de Tokyo's archives.

The closing day of a festive and wildly busy week featuring a wealth of new perspectives on the issues facing contemporary art today, Friday 27 January will also be the occasion for Nicolas Bourriaud and Jérôme Sans to go back over the artistic, human, and institutional adventure of the Palais de Tokyo. A day that will offer plenty of surprising developments for a unique venue, a day for catching the Palais de Tokyo at its festive best.

Official footage, amateur artists, TV broadcasts, Sunday photographers, archivist squatters, or peerless documentary filmmakers will present their bits of film, slide shows, or available reels for an official and unofficial history of the Palais de Tokyo.

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From noon to midnight In conjunction with each of the special week's events, "Notre histoire…" will be open to the public everyday from noon to midnight. "Notre histoire…" features the work of 29 artists from the emerging French art scene, on display throughout the whole of the Palais de Tokyo's galleries.

˜ˆ

Ó

Palais de Tokyo,

site de création contemporaine

> Palais de Tokyo by night

Founded in 2002 at the initiative of the Ministry of Culture and Communications, the Palais de Tokyo is a venue for experimentation and innovation. Designed as a forum open to one and all, the Palais offers a new way of experiencing art that is closely in tune with today's world and the expectations of artists and the public. The Palais de Tokyo is an institution where culture is a living thing, the first art center to remain open from noon to midnight, offering exhibitions, events, talks, video screenings, music, a restaurant, a bookshop, and a boutique. The Palais has also created a museum reception that is made to measure, ready to assist all visitors thanks to its staff of mediators, who are specialized in the latest forms of contemporary artmaking.

> Bruno Peinado “Perpetuum Mobile”

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The program of events and shows at the Palais de Tokyo reflects the art of our day and age and attests to the creative explosion of the contemporary world, the disciplines involved in artmaking today, and the many emerging forms of expression that point out the direction of its future. Cross-disciplinary, sensitive to current trends, international, experimental, and diversified, the Palais de Tokyo's program makes plain its unending commitment to artists throughout the creative process to produce with them the most pertinent and meaningful of new works. Nicolas Bourriaud and Jérôme Sans founded and currently direct the Palais de Tokyo. Mr. Bourriaud, a writer and art critic, is the author of L'Esthétique relationnelle, a major work and point of reference for an approach to contemporary art. Jérôme Sans was an outside curator at the Institute of Visual Arts in Milwaukee (USA), where he mounted a number of solo shows of such major artists as Pierre Huyghe, Erwin Wurm, Philippe Parreno, Kendell Geers, and Martin Parr.

> Daniel Buren, installation “Quatre fois moins ou quatre fois plus ?”

Maurice Lévy, who is the chairman of the board of Publicis Groupe S.A., the world's leading media group, is president of the Palais de Tokyo association's board of directors; Pierre Cornette de Saint-Cyr, the board's vice-président, is a wellknown auctioneer. The board also includes a number of artists such as Orlan, Catherine Breillat, and Daniel Buren. Located in the heart of Paris between the Eiffel Tower and the Champs-Élysées, the Palais de Tokyo, site for the contemporary arts, has become a showcase for the vitality of artmaking today. The Palais de Tokyo occupies an historic building that was built in 1937 for the Universal Exhibition and renovated for its present use by the architects Anne Lacaton and Jean-Philippe Vassal. The venue boasts an exceptional exhibition space (4000 m2), which places it among the great international institutions devoted to the art of today.

> Group show “Hardcore, vers un nouvel activisme”

A few numbers... From 22 January 2002, when it first opened its doors to the public, until 30 October 2005, the Palais de Tokyo has seen: > over 850 000 people visit its shows, an average attendance of 18 743 visitors per month, or 803 visitors per day; > over 3 million people visit the Palais's Website at www.palaisdetokyo.com; > 36 000 subscribers receive the Palais's newsletter. Between January 2002 and December 2005, the Palais de Tokyo exhibited the work of 286 artists > 108 (37.8%) of these artists were French, 178 (62.2 %) were foreign; > 74 (26%) of these artists were women, 212 (74%) men. During this same period, the Palais de Tokyo mounted 96 solo exhibitions. > 52% of these involved French artists, 48% foreign ones. > 27% of these exhibitions were created by woman artists, 73% by men.

> Surasi Kusolwong “La La La Minimal Market”