The 42nd Foire International d’Art Contemporaine (FIAC) opens its doors to visitors in Paris this October. Unveiling a fresh, new programme for 2015 at its preview yesterday, the fair is now open to the public until the end of the week. Held in and around some of Paris’s most iconic locations including the Grand Palais, the Jardin des Tuileries, the Jardin des Plantes, Place Vendôme and the Banks of the Seine, FIAC welcomes a vibrant group of international galleries to the heart of one of Europe’s best loved capitals.
This year FIAC presents over 170 exhibitors from 22 countries including Tanya Bonakdar, David Zwirner, White Cube, Lisson Gallery, and Gagosian in a series of specialised sectors. The Nave, the Salon d’honneur and the South-East Gallery on the first floor of the Grand Palais focuses on modern and contemporary art, while the South and South-West Galleries, located upstairs, hosts contemporary and emerging art galleries as well as the Lafayette Sector. Launched in 2009 by FIAC and its official sponsor, the Groupe Galeries Lafayette, this sector financially supports 10 French and international galleries who represent emerging practitioners, including Arcade, Arratia Beer, Callicoon Fine Arts, Hollybush Gardens and more.
Alongside the exhibits within the Grand Palais, FIAC’s signature Hors les Murs programme is an annually anticipated event in Paris. In association with the Domaine National du Louvre et des Tuileries, an ensemble of outdoor works focusing on the themes of nature, biodiversity and the environment are showcased at the Tuileries Garden, Jardin des Plantes and the Museum national d’Histoire naturelle. To coincide with COP21, the United Nations Climate Change Conference, hosted by France, selected pieces will be on display until December. Meanwhile, in collaboration with the Comité Vendôme, monumental sculptures and installations can be found at the Place Vendôme, and further outdoor works can be spotted along the left bank of the Seine river.
FIAC also supports creatives working with the moving image: artists’ films are being shown at the Auditorium of the Grand Palais and the Cinéphémère returns to the Tuileries Gardens. ‘Carte Blanche’ invitations are also on offer for evening events at the Silencio nightclub, designed by David Lynch, which features film projections, concerts, performances, book signings and artists’ talks. Performance aficionados can find solace in FIAC’s energetic live art line-up including Ouvertures/Openings, produced in collaboration with the Auditorium of the Louvre Museum, and In Process, a performance programme dedicated to the emergent contemporary art scene. Elsewhere, the fair continues its collaboration with the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts de Paris and the Maison de la Poésie in Voices of Urgency, a cycle of seminars and discussions relating to poetry and the social sciences, held at the Chapelle des Petits-Augustins.
Lastly, OFFICIELLE returns to the Docks – Cité de la Mode et du Design and various Hors les Murs locations for its second edition at FIAC. Acting as a satellite or sister fair, OFFICIELLE showcases an additional 70 French and international galleries specialising in contemporary and emerging art, with a focus on new territories: young galleries, newcomers and upcoming talents.
The two fairs also work together to present In Paris During FIAC & OFFICIELLE, a dynamic network of over 100 cultural institutions including the Louvre Museum, the Centre Pompidou, the Palais de Tokyo, the Musée Picasso, the Fondation Louis Vuitton, the Grand Palais, the Musée d’Art moderne de la Ville de Paris, the Château de Versailles, the Arts Décoratifs, and the Petit Palais.
FIAC, 22-25 October 2015, Grand Palais, Paris.
Find out more www.fiac.com.
Follow us on Twitter @AestheticaMag for the latest news in contemporary art and culture.
Credits
1. FIAC, Grand Palais. Photograph by Marc Domage. Courtesy of FIAC.
