Biennale de Belleville 2012

Currently animating some of the galleries and public spaces of Belleville is the second edition of this contemporary art fest. We’ll hand the mike over to Patrice Joly, the biennial’s chief curator: “The theme of the first Biennial was nothing other than Belleville itself… Two years later, the Biennial team has decided to return to that initial orientation, by both introducing other venues, institutions, non-profit organizations, artist’s studios, squares and other public places… and by extending a line of thinking about the interactions between areas where art is produced, and places where it is displayed. On the one hand it is a matter of thinking about the impact of these ephemeral monuments, known as works of art, in the public place, and the way they can transform our relationship to the city — with Nicolas Milhé’s piece, for example, shedding light on the harmonious forms of cohabitation in the neighbourhood through the faraway exclusions that it conjures up. On the other, it is a question of thinking about the links between a territory and the artists who live in it, through the temporary occupation of studios, in particular, and through the Street Painting project, turning Belleville’s streets into the venue for an impromptu show… The art lending library project at the CENTQUATRE proposes re-invigorating our relationship to artworks; the tableaux vivants project seeks to reintroduce some drama into the space; and the project at the Maison des Métallos will reconstruct a patrimonial link which is at the very least stretched, while in the “classic” exhibition venues the theme of revolution(s) is broached obliquely, to offset the homage to the city and also to remind us that if this latter wants to remain alive, it must be permanently infiltrated and upset by the invigorating contact with artists…” Check out the whole program here, and see it on a map here.
Until 20 Oct.
www.labiennaledebelleville.fr/

Vincent Lamouroux, “Aire 23,” 2010