Where to go to see art
Just like I discovered Brighton when I was staying in London last October. I enjoyed a nice sunny (well in spirit) day outside of Paris. And what a day it was! We left Paris with a group of 12 people (supposed to even be 15!) and hopped on the train. A friend of mine had the great idea to organize this a few months
ago, all it took was a Facebook group, a doodle to pick the date and
voilà!
1 - Centre Pompidou-Metz
Created in 2010, its architecture was designed by an association of three architects : Shigeru Ban, Jean de Gastines and Philip Gumuchdjian. The inspiration behind the shape of the building is one of a traditional Chinese hat.
It is one of the most visited museum outside of Paris!
Its purpose is like the Centre Pompidou in Paris presents all the forms of visual art created in the 20th and 21st centuries. The idea was to create a museum based on the model of the Centre Pompidou outside of Paris, to connect to a different audience. It is not an antenna, more like a sibling. So they can use their stuff. The museum in Metz can count on the collections of the National Museum of Modern Art (aka Centre Pompidou) which has more than 100 000 artworks to chose from. Just one of the two best collections in modern and contemporary art, the main one in Europe. Makes me want to visit and see what they did with the Louvre Lens and the one in Abu Dhabi as well, but it might take a longer time to go haha.
TIPS
Transport: The roundtrip by train costed me 46€. The earlier you book, the better. Or even cheaper take the bus , just a little bit longer and only 3€ check out Flixbus.
Lunch: book your place for lunch if you are a group. As parisians we did not think about where we would eat at 1pm after the museum with a group of 12. We walked around the city and found lots of places closed! We were lucky to find a cute bakery style café with veggie and vegan options. Check the map to see where it’s at!
The space is sooo big it took us at least 2 hours to see everything. There were 3 exhibitions, all of them are temporary, so the space is always changing. And well after seeing so much art we had so much to talk about and so many different opinions. What could we have so much to talk about you say? Well first the topics of the exhibitions, also the way the pieces were displayed, or the path presented to the visitor. Many art fights, but rest assured no one got hurt… only the cheesecake I had for desert. So much violence.
2 - FRAC LORRAINE
After that nice lunch break we walked around the little streets of Metz and headed to the FRAC. Don’t know what is a FRAC? Don’t worry I wrote a post explaining it all here 🙂 Ok first let’s acknowledge the cuteness of the place. Now for the show, called “Présences voyageuses” (Travelling presence for a litteral translation) it was very interesting to see a different kind of exhibition. Since FRAC lend their collections to other art centers, institutions, curators, etc., they decided to showcase this activity. They collected the data on the pieces that are shown the most and where. This gives a different perspective on the artworks and the way the multiple audiences interact with it. And it makes you wonder things like why is this piece by a French artist mostly shown in this area of the world than in France? Or this country have shown these kind of artists most. Also the type of work that are shown, installations, video art, etc. Loved it.
3 - Faux Mouvements
As an art center this institution showcases curated exhibition of contemporary art. Created in 1983 the space presents shows specifically thought for the space, with also artworks being produced for it. Besides the exhibition they also interact with the urban landscape of the city, develop production of public artwork and organize artists’ residencies.These ones are hosted in public establishments like schools so audiences can enter the artists’ studios and discover the different stages of production. And of course so much more…
When I was there I discovered the group show Sans tambour, ni trompette – Cent ans de guerre (Without drums, nor trumpets – 100 years of war). The curator Julie Crenn worked on the 100 years anniversary of World War 1 and how the artist responds to not only war but how they perceive everything connected to it.
Way to end a perfect day like that? A little beer at the local pub. Just before grabbing a pack of chips and heading to Paris with the last train. Short night for me to rest from all that walking around, the day after I was heading to Beirut!
