Curators

The figure of the "curator" is decisive in the system of contemporary art. For that reason, the Fondation d'entreprise Ricard invites young curators to organize collective exhibitions every year as part of a broader ambition to support the art scene in all its diversity and accompany its development as closely as possible.
In order to continue dialoging and exchanging with curators and art critics, the Fondation has decided to provide a networking tool for curators on its website, as well as a database on the careers and projects of these young exhibition organizers. The new section is notably intended for art professionals (directors of institutions and biennial events, gallery owners, etc.), but is more generally open to everyone interested in keeping up to date with the most recent evolutions of the art world.

YCI PROGRAM

As part of regular invitations it extends to young exhibition curators, the Fondation d'entreprise Ricard is continuing its support to the Young Curators Invitational (YCI) in partnership with the Le Journal des arts. The program brings five young exhibition curators from all over the world to Paris on the proposal of an international jury, which involves the following personalities this year:

- Chris Sharp - Independent curator - France
- Florence Ostende - Adjunct curator - Dallas Contemporary USA
- Alessandro Rabottini - Art critic and curator - UK/Italy
- Elena Filipovic - Curator - WIELS Belgium
- Emma Lavigne - Curator - MNAM Centre Pompidou France
- Abdella Karroum - Independent curator - France/Morocco

The selected curators are invited to visit Parisian art sites and meet with artists, collectors, gallery owners, curators and critics. The Fondation d'entreprise Ricard thus hopes to foster the visibility of French artists abroad. Since its inception, the YCI has introduced 35 young international curators to the French art scene.

Participants of YCI 2012 are :
- Valerio Borgonuovo (Italy)
- Ovul Durmosoglu (Turkey/Germany)
- Didier Houénoudé (Benin)
- Margarida Mendes (Portugal)
- Lesya Prokopenko (Ukraine)
- Jakob Schillinger (Germany)
- Felipe Scovino (Brazil)
- Claire Tancons (France)
- Vivian Ziherl (Australia/Netherlands)

THE CRITIC'S VIEWS

The Critic's view section provides a space to curators for an opinion column. Actually, the Fondation invited Bénédicte Ramade to write a series of pieces; she came up with the idea of «Greenologie.»

Art critic and exhibition curator Bénédicte Ramade specializes in the relations between art and ecology. She proposes to examine the paradoxes of the enthusiasm for green in contemporary art from a historical perspective. As in an almanac, she will react to current events as well as to the seasons.
Because no area could possibly escape the critical interpretation and analysis of artists, the protection of the environment and ecological disturbances have been part of the corpus of art for several decades. However, the field remains little known by the public - which is why the Fondation d'entreprise Ricard is now hosting the «Mardis de l'environnement» [«Tuesdays of the Environment»], a monthly discussion of environmental issues between specialists of these questions.
Bénédicte Ramade's «billets verts» (or «green notes») will take the debates further, exploring possible responses in the domain of visual arts.

In this section of the website you may also find a text by Laurent Jeanpierre as well as the project of art critic and exhibition curator Jean-Max Colard, who has shared his dreams around art with us.