Let's dream a little. An artistic saltwater garden that evokes the original sea. Hospitality furniture made from recycled waste from the seabed. Outdoor “contemplation furniture” in Brittany facing a mythical cairn (heap of stones). A work directly on the Meije glacier, in the Alps. An artist who captures sound vibrations in a prehistoric cave and turns it into an opera. A flagship designed from an assembly of old sails, guaranteed ecological recycling, and which will sail from port to port presenting shows and activities. A "Legal Rhapsody" in video born from a dive into the archives of the Palais Bourbon to tell the separation of Church and State. A radio fiction about the first rhinoceros to arrive in France in 1516 in Marseille ...
These are some of the 264 artistic projects selected, out of more than 3,200 candidates, within the framework of the Elysian “New Worlds” program, by a jury chaired by Bernard Blistène, former patron of the National Museum of Modern Art in Beaubourg.
Emmanuel Macron presents the results of this competition launched in the spring, this Monday evening at the Élysée.
430 artists between 20 and 96 years old
The state wants to strike hard. The idea was born at the heart of the first confinement. Artists have particularly suffered from the pandemic economically. The Élysée therefore releases 30 million euros for these projects, “never seen before in such a short time”, it is said within the firm, and in all disciplines: visual arts, music, live performance, writing, design and applied arts. The youngest artist selected is 20 years old and is still a student at the Boulle School. The oldest, Etel Adnan, 96, is a recognized painter, but who is part of a collective. This is the great tendency for candidates to work in a team: 85 projects have been carried out by several, bringing the number of artists concerned to 430. And 60% of them are under 40: priority is given to young people, but not only. Finally, 57% are men and 43% are women.
In a first phase, the winners will be allocated a sum of 3,000 to 10,000 euros to finalize their project.
Then the money will be distributed on a case-by-case basis, knowing that of the 30 million, 5 are devoted to the operating budget and in particular to a website accessible to the public which will list all the works and their state of progress, with interviews of 'artists and video recordings.
A "portrait of time" in 264 pieces
Another novelty of this recovery plan, a change of approach compared to the traditional public commissions, like these sculptures or works of art that you see at the bend of a crossroads: “We started from the wishes of the artists, and not from the artists. 'an order initiated by the State,' says one at the Élysée, who did not wish to support already existing projects but to start from a blank sheet. More lyrical, the president of the jury Bernard Blistène would like this set to draw "a portrait of time". The era in a puzzle of 264 pieces.
The Center des monuments nationaux and the natural sites of the Conservatoire du Littoral were associated with this plan for a third of the works each, the rest being located on sites which remain to be determined and will be visible to the public.
Artistic, environmental, ecological, societal too: the Ehpads have inspired several projects, "around the link between love and confinement" at the time of the Covid, specifies Bernard Blistène.
Surrounded by specialists in art, philosophy and multiple disciplines, this committee will support the artists throughout their project.
After the selection, the realization.