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: Helmut Batista, Director of Capacete (Sao Paulo, Cuauhtémoc Medina, Independent Curator (Mexico City), Yukie Kamiya, Chief Curator of Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art, Anne Ellegood, Senior Curator of Hammer Museum (Los Angeles), Claire Hsu, Director of Asia Art Archive (Hong Kong), Shai Heredia, Head of Programs of India Foundation for the Arts (Bangalore), Susanne Pfeffer, Curator in KW (Berlin).

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 30 young international curators to the French art scene. The names of the curators selected for the 2010 session will soon be available at www.fondation-entreprise-ricard.com/curators.

Participants of YCI 2011 are :
- Daniela Castro (Sao Paulo)
- Sol Henaro (Mexico City)
- Azusa Hashimoto (Osaka)
- Aram Moshayedi (Los Angeles)
- Clara (Hong Kong)
- Gum (Hong Kong)
- Shanay Jhaveri (Mumbai)
- Valeska Schneider (Berlin)

They were individually recommended by :
- Helmut Batista - Director - Capacete, Sao Paulo
- Cuauhtémoc Medina - Independent Curator, Mexico City
- Yukie Kamiya - Chief Curator - Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art
- Anne Ellegood - Senior Curator - Hammer Museum, Los Angeles
- Claire Hsu - Director - Asia Art Archive, Hong Kong
- Shai Heredia - Head of Programs - India Foundation for the Arts, Bangalore
- Susanne Pfeffer - Curator - KW, Berlin

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.