Vernissage de l'exposition Kaye Donachie - Sous les nuages de ses paupières Le Plateau, Frac Ile-de-France, Paris © DR
Vernissage de l'exposition Kaye Donachie - Sous les nuages de ses paupières Le Plateau, Frac Ile-de-France, Paris © DR

Frac île-de-france

The Frac Île-de-France promotes and supports contemporary art and artists through the production of works and the development of a public collection of international standing which is accessible to all. It is committed to disseminating and facilitating understanding of contemporary art throughout the Île-de-France region.

This is why the Frac Île-de-France has chosen to pursue a ‘multi-site’ project to establish its presence within different areas of the Île-de-France region, in order to disseminate contemporary creation to all types of audiences, both on- and off-site. Through its two sites – le Plateau, in Paris; and les Réserves, in Romainville – it is able to present works in two different types of area: in Paris itself and in the city’s inner and outer suburbs.

  • Le Plateau, Paris: a venue of experimentation, production and support for contemporary creation
  • Les Réserves, Romainville: a site for storing the collection and making it accessible to a wider audience

The Frac’s collection, comprising nearly 2,000 works and spanning all fields of artistic creation, is also a unique resource that enables it to exhibit works off-site, in locations not usually devoted to art, such as schools, cultural and social centres, and hospitals. It is particularly focussed on the emergence of new generations of artists, on the advancement of the practices of more established artists, on compiling a representative body of work by certain artists to go beyond a single vision of their work, and on developing a range of exhibition systems designed by artists.

Céline Poulin © DR
Céline Poulin © DR

A thousand and one “plateaux”

“When I saw the advertisement for the position of director of Frac Île-de-France, I thought I’d come to the end of my project at CAC Brétigny and everything I wanted to develop there. As an independent curator, I’ve worked a lot with collections, and much of our research with the Le Bureau/ collective was linked to collection issues (“Uchronie, des récits de collections”, “Le Syndrome de Bonnard”, “P2P”, etc.). My background in mediation and popular education also made the Frac an obvious structure for me. I was particularly interested in the multisite aspect because the project I was carrying out at CAC Brétigny was a territorial project in a conurbation, and the question of disseminating art in non-dedicated spaces and reaching out to different audiences, with different subjectivities, was at the heart of the project. It was also at the heart of my curatorial project for Parc Saint Léger – Hors les murs, alongside Sandra Patron. I really enjoy working in the Île-de-France region, the abundance of artistic life, the fact that it’s really at the cutting edge of the arts while being very diverse, between town and country, and that it’s a region in transformation is very stimulating for me.

The “Thousand and One Plateaux” project I designed for the Frac Île-de-France is based on the specific characteristics of the Frac and the Île-de-France region. One of the first axes is the question of the de-hierarchization of spaces and geographical zones. It’s important for a Frac to consider each territory in the same way, and it’s with this in mind that I’ve imagined the hors-les-murs projects with a multi-territorial exhibition as part of territorial programs. What’s also fundamentally important to me is the de-hierarchization of practices, i.e. the exhibition is indeed a central practice, but it’s just as important as the workshop and other moments of encounter between art, artists and all audiences. This is why the Frac’s project will develop the art space as a living space that responds to the needs of the people who use it (artists, theorists, residents, teachers, students, pupils, etc.), so that everyone can feel welcome and at home in the space. Finally, the question of respect for resources (human, financial, ecological) is essential. In reality, everything fits together: for example, placing mediation at the heart of the artistic project also means crossing budgets, as part of a strategy to put artists and the living at the heart of the project.

In terms of our relationship with the local area, the team will be developing multi-territory exhibitions that will take place at Les Réserves and Le Plateau, as well as at cultural partners, social and popular education venues, schools, etc. These exhibitions will break down the hierarchy of spaces and practices, putting exhibitions at Le Plateau and Les Réserves on the same footing, as well as local exhibitions, artist residencies and workshop projects. These exhibitions will de-hierarchize spaces and practices by placing on the same level exhibitions at Le Plateau and Les Réserves, as well as local exhibitions, artist residencies and workshop projects, all organized around a common theme. […]

I really like the idea of activable works in the Frac Île-de-France collection, and this is something I’d like us to pursue and affirm, works that are “in use”, that can be reactivated by the public, which also enables us to think about acquisition in terms of distribution, because it’s important to think about who the collection is aimed at. I’d also like to see us develop video, which for me is a cutting-edge medium in contemporary art, a highly experimental medium in which we can have an amplitude of different styles, while at the same time taking part in image education, which is essential, as video is everywhere in our daily lives. The third axis, which is a challenge for the institution, is to collect co-creation practices that bring together artists, amateurs and amateurs, but also obviously to support emerging creation, which is one of the key roles of a Frac’s collection.

At Le Plateau, we’re going to set up a space for free practice, to develop the approach to art not just through reception, but also through practice. At Les Réserves, we’ll also have an art practice space for groups, and the idea is to open up the site to its neighborhood and to design exhibitions in discussion with major contemporary issues, showing that our collection is in dialogue with these societal challenges. Considering the artistic aspect of mediation, and co-designing projects that bring together artists and the public, is a strong position for me as curator. There’s a young generation of artists who are currently thinking about artistic projects in relation to audiences, and who advocate an art that is fully rooted in society, with artists who want to play a social role (without, of course, comparing themselves for a moment to the indispensable work done by social actors). So there’s a chiism between isolated art – art for art’s sake – and art that’s rooted in the society in which it exists, i.e. art that thinks about its means of production in human and ecological terms, because that means building projects that respect each and every one of us. Talking about ecology also means working on the issues of recycling, economy of means, reuse, etc. on a daily basis. The same goes for the question of working relationships, which is something we do on a daily basis.

The Frac must be a place where people can meet, a social space, where I’d like them to feel as welcome and relaxed as when they go to a library or media library. For me, and this is a concept I share with the Frac’s president, Béatrice Lecouturier, the Frac is really the place to meet all publics.”

— Céline Poulin, director of the Frac Île-de-France
Recent acquisition

Recent acquisition

Study on perspective II

Noémie Goudal
Study on perspective II
2022
Stéréoscope, visionneuse 3D, plaques acryliques, 7 vues stéréoscopiques
Tirage édition 36/50

Noémie Goudal, Study on perspective II, 2022 © Noémie Goudal / Adagp, Paris / 2023
Noémie Goudal, Study on perspective II, 2022 © Noémie Goudal / Adagp, Paris / 2023

Comité technique d'achat

Anna Colin
Curatrice et chercheuse
Céline Poulin
Directrice du Frac Île-de-France
Marie Cozette
Directrice du CRAC Occitanie
Daisy Lambert
Curatrice indépendante
Marie Voignier
Artiste

Administration

Béatrice Lecouturier
Présidente
Céline Poulin
Directrice

Contact

Frac Île-de-France
Le Plateau
22, rue des Alouettes
75019 Paris, France

info@fraciledefrance.com
T. +33 (0)1 76 21 13 41

Opening hours

MON
CLOSED
TUE
CLOSED
WED
2PM-7PM
THU
2PM-7PM
FRI
2PM-7PM
SAT
2PM-7PM
SUN
2PM-7PM
Stay updated with Platform news