Vign'art land art festival: contemporary art is anchored in the Champagne vineyards

Mixing champagne and contemporary art is a successful bet. The "Vign'Art" festival returns this spring to the champagne vineyard with seventeen new ephemeral works scattered in the galipes. Nearly fifteen municipalities are hosting contemporary installations or land art this year. "The goal is to highlight the vineyard and our land. Each year, new artists are selected and their works are visible until mid-September," explains Jean-Baptiste Duteurtre, director of Vign'Art.

After the season, the works are usually dismantled definitively but some are, sometimes, brought to know a second life. "We are currently working with the Department to ensure that they can be bought or exhibited in public gardens in the Marne," reveals Jean-Baptiste Duteurtre. But some did not wait for the white smoke. In Monthelon, a small town of 360 souls that hosted a work last year, residents and elected officials have agreed to acquire a sculpture.

In Val-de-Livre (Marne), the Vinis & Co installation was imagined by Caroline Valette, an artist from Reims, who worked on a Bollinger vine lodge. DR Benoît Laroche

"We were lucky enough to be chosen by Vign'Art in 2022 and everyone liked the installed work a lot," said Mayor Cédric Pienne. When we learned that it had to be dismantled, we proposed to launch a sponsorship campaign with winegrowers from the village. The operation was such a success that nearly 70% of the purchase sum was raised and the municipality was able to finance landscaping to enhance the work. The work is being completed and, next July, the Franco-British artist Nell Stride will inaugurate the new space dedicated to her sculpture called "The inevitable return to the earth". Braided in vine wire, the latter will culminate on the viewpoint of the Demoiselles, which overlooks the Côte des Blancs. "It will join the Jardins de Vignes tourist circuit. And, eventually, an educational path will also be developed, "says Cédric Pienne.

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In the meantime, the Vign'Art festival hopes to take a new leap forward: "The idea of it becoming a regional event is under consideration. The festival would thus bring together the vineyards of Alsace, Lorraine and the south of Champagne, that is to say part of the Aube, "says Jean-Baptiste Duteurtre. Franck Leroy, the president of the Grand Est region, and former mayor of Epernay, foreshadowed this new breath for the Champagne demonstration during the presentation press conference. The objective is to associate these territories to launch a common festival of land art on the three vineyards. "It's a very good idea because these art installations magnify our landscapes," admits the mayor of Monthelon. If it can be coordinated between the regions, it would be even more interesting for our territories in terms of culture and tourism. »

The works of Vign'art 2023 are visible until September 17 in Ay Champagne, Cougy, Cumières, Épernay, Étoges, Fèrebrianges, Loisy-en-Brie, Magenta, Patis-du-mesnil, Soulières, Taissy, Tours-sur-Marne, Val-de-Livre and Vert-Foulon. Full program on www.vignart.fr www.vignart.fr