Art Paris 2023: Transnational Renegotiation of Commitment and Exile in Art Interview with the Fair Director Guillaume Piens

Upon the 25th anniversary of Art Paris 2023, we are invited to partake in an international event that invites us to ‘think globally, act locally’ through the questions and realities posed in over 134 galleries from over 25 different countries. Between the showcase of many international artists as well as highlighting the French contemporary art scene, the various exhibitions on display focus on the following two themes: ‘Art & Commitment’ and ‘Exile: Dispossession and Resistances.’ Through these exhibitions, solo and duo shows as well as a show devoted to showing young galleries and emerging artists entitled ‘Promises’, Art Paris 2023 promises to deliver a truly exciting, unique and expansive program — including it serving as the first sustainably designed art fair.

I had the opportunity and great pleasure to learn more about Art Paris 2023 through an interview with its Fair Director Guillaume Piens as well as learn about his fascinating perspective on the approaches and programming of the event:

Joanna Pottle: Your role in the Art Paris 2023 Art Fair as the director, with a total of 134 galleries from over 25 different countries, with both French galleries (60%) and foreign galleries (40%) represented is a major undertaking and unique global event. How would you describe the primary aims of the event and how it balances its format as a global event while still highlighting the French scene?

Guillaume Piens: Art Paris does indeed have its own unique character. It is a regional and cosmopolitan fair focusing on discovery that is innovative in the way it sets out to explore in depth the world of modern and contemporary art. Its very individual choice of themes also sets it apart from other art fairs.

60% of the exhibitors are domestic galleries and 40% internationally-based. This deliberate choice enables the fair to showcase the wealth of the French gallery ecosystem, which includes leading modern and contemporary art galleries and galleries based in towns all over France, while providing support to emerging structures with Promises, the sector for young galleries.

That’s why the fair’s regional orientation is so interesting because it lets you see artists and artworks that you wouldn’t see anywhere else, while also playing host to international galleries and artists.

JP: Can you elaborate on the process of selecting this year’s themes of ‘Commitment and Exile,’ specifically the sectors entitled ‘Art & Commitment’ and ‘Exile: Dispossession and Resistance’? How do they speak to our contemporary context and how did you work with exhibition curators to organize the sectors and exhibitions on these themes?

GP: The first theme, ‘Art and Commitment,’ curated by independent exhibition curator and former Musée de l’Elysée chief curator Marc Donnadieu focuses on the French scene. It comprises 20 artists he has chosen from amongst those presented by galleries exhibiting in this edition of Art Paris. The second theme, ‘Exile: Dispossession and Resistance,’ provides more of an overview of the international scene with a selection of 18 artists. It has been entrusted to independent curator and Temporary Art Platform founder Amanda Abi Khalil and will address questions in connection with exile. 

The two curators have also written a text presenting the selected artists, which will allow visitors to better apprehend the works on show.

These two themes powerfully resonate with these precarious times when war is raging on Europe’s doorstep, totalitarian states perdure or are reappearing in different areas of the globe and identity-based conflicts threaten social cohesion and the very spirit of democracy, let alone the challenges of migration and climate crisis we are facing. 

JP: The Fair includes a sector entitled ‘Promises,’ which supports young galleries (less than six years old) and emerging artists, with 43 galleries either shown as first-time exhibitors or past participants returning this edition and 32% new exhibitors compared to 2022 — a unique addition to such a prestigious global art event. Can you tell us about why you felt it was important to include this emerging and new contemporary art scene in the Art Paris 2023 Art Fair and your selection process, particularly for the nine hosted galleries for ‘Promises’ from around the globe?

GP: The idea is to present something fresh every year with new exhibitors representing about 30% of the selection, but above all to make room for the discovery of new art scenes and emerging galleries. The Promises sector focusing on 9 galleries in existence for less than 6 years epitomises the position of the fair.

This year, we have put a great deal of effort into renewing the Promises sector. What is interesting is its wide geographical reach as it features a very varied selection of young galleries from Bucharest (Gaep Gallery), Guatemala City (Galeria Rebelde), Los Angeles (Baert Gallery), Amsterdam (Enari) and Lisbon (This is not a white cube). A certain number of constants amongst emerging artists can be observed, such as a return to figuration and the importance of artisanal and age-old crafts that is expressed in a growing interest in mediums such as textiles and ceramics.

JP: Art Paris hails as being the first sustainably designed art fair, based on a life cycle analysis (LCA). Can you tell us more about how Art Paris achieved this innovative solution and what visitors can expect from this as well as for future editions of Art Paris?

GP: A life cycle assessment (LCA) is the most advanced tool for measuring the environmental impact of a product or service. It takes into account a multitude of criteria in order to provide a global analysis, listing and quantifying the materials and energy used. 

To carry out the Art Paris life cycle analysis, we analysed the direct environmental impacts of Art Paris, including production, setup, take down and waste management to calculate the fair life cycle data set and establish a diagnosis that enabled Art Paris to implement solutions and reduce its environmental impact. 

Following the diagnosis of the Art Paris 2021’s LCA, some 40 or so measures were put into place and four priorities identified: the brushed cotton covering the partitions, the carpet used in the aisles, energy consumption and waste management. Thanks to the measures taken, the fair has reduced by almost half the quantity of waste produced with a decrease from 25.1 tonnes in 2021 to 13.6 tonnes in 2022 (a 45.8% reduction).

The fair has also reduced its carbon footprint: 80,791 KgCO2eq in 2021 compared to 64,217 KgCO2eq in 2022 and 12 tonnes of materials were reused or recycled in 2022 rather than being thrown away as during previous editions.

JP: As an art historian by training, organizer and artistic director of cultural events as well as an art collector, you have served as a curator for such events as Paris Photo (2008-2011), Japan in 2008, the Arab world and Iran in 2009, and Central Europe in 2010. How has your global curatorial and directorial experiences informed your approach for the Art Paris 2023 Art Fair?

GP: Paris Photo has definitely influenced the way I see art fairs. For me, a fair is not just a marketplace, but also a window onto the art world, a place where you can showcase arts scenes that are unknown or little-known in France and contribute to the discovery of new artists. Like an explorer, I would set off to discover a country or a region and endeavour to bring back the very best examples of its production to show to the public in Paris. And that’s what I have continued to do with Art Paris since 2012. Over the years, we have successively explored the art scenes of Russia, China, Singapore and South-East Asia, Korea, Africa and Latin America.

I hope that this approach allows us to contribute to the emergence of new talents in an art world that is more and more taken up with speculation and investment, in other words financial concerns that are the very opposite of discovery.

JP: What do you find to be the greatest challenges and rewards in your directorial work for such a major global event as Art Paris 2023 Art Fair following the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and ongoing political unrest throughout the world, particularly in Europe? How do you foresee the future of international art fairs?

GP: I feel proud of the way in which the fair stood the test of the COVID-19 pandemic and managed to reinvent itself in the process. In September 2020, Art Paris was the world’s first post-lockdown ‘physical’ art fair and it went on to become the first event to inaugurate the Temporary Grand Palais on the Champ de Mars in September 2021. Six months later, in April 2022, it was also the first fair to adopt a sustainable, life cycle analysis-based approach to its organisation.

Today, we are all affected by inflation and the shortage of materials, however I believe that the art fair model is destined to endure and notably the regional fair model, which — as it gives pride of place to proximity and the local economy — is better able to adapt to new environmental requirements.

JP: With the celebration of Art Paris’s 25th anniversary as part of this year’s edition, what in your opinion continues to set Art Paris apart from other global art fairs and events? How does it continue to be a pioneer in the contemporary art world?

GP: Art Paris is proud of its own unique identity, an identity based on bold choices that are expressed in the themes we address and a desire to explore in depth the world of modern and contemporary art both across Europe, but also in more distant, less well-known regions of the world. This approach means that we are able to scout out new talent and pave the way for tomorrow.