The Fonds de dotation du Grand Paris Express offers an opportunity to support art and culture in the Greater Paris Area.
The Grand Paris Express – goals and ambition
With 68 new stations and 200 kilometers of additional tracks, the Grand Paris Express is currently the largest urban design project in Europe. Its four new lines will circle around the capital and provide connections with Paris’s airports, business districts, universities as well as health services and cultural institutions. It will service more than 100 municipalities, 165,000 companies, and the daily transport of up to 3 million commuters when the network is completed by 2030.
The art collection of Grand Paris Express - presentation
Alongside with the development of this metro project, there is a strong cultural side with the creation of an art collection. Each of the 68 new subway stations will have its own work of art which is the result of a collaboration between an artist and an architect. This program will make it possible to support artistic creation in an unprecedented way in France, to reveal its dynamism as well as its great diversity.
For this art collection, world-renowned artists (JR, Daniel Buren, Pistoletto..) as well as a new generation of artists have been invited. The project will cover the entire spectrum of contemporary forms: sculpture, light, digital, video... and associate French artists as well as artists from all over the world (Chile, Japan, United States etc.)
To select the artists, an artistic Committee has been created. It is presided by José-Manuel Gonçalvès, director of the cultural centre CentQuatre in Paris and artistic director of the Grand Paris Express. It regroups the best of French curators and museums director todays to ensure the quality of the selected artists:
- Alexia Fabre, Director of Paris Beaux-Arts School
- Laurent Le Bon, President of the Centre Pompidou
- Fabrice Bousteau, Chief Editor of Beaux-Arts Magazine
- Annabelle Ténèze, Director of the Louvre-Lens
- Jean-François Chougnet, Director of Lille3000
They are all deeply committed into the mission they have be assigned.
« The shift of an artwork into the public space is always a fascinating moment. It becomes accessible to all. But what matters is the long-term registration. These artistic commissions are a complement of soul for this gigantic project. We must therefore be vigilant and think about 10, 20 or 30 years to avoid disappointing passers-by and other enthusiasts who, I hope, will come to see this unique set of works in the world. » Laurent Le Bon
The art collection of Grand Paris Express - artists
About 50 artists have been selected to date to create installations for Grand Paris Express, and 39 of them have been made public among which artists such as : Eva Jospin, Ryoji Ikeda, Laurent Grasso, Tatiana Trouvé, Ivan Navarro, Pablo Valbuena, Ned Kahn, Sophie Calle, Joana Vasconcelos, Daniel Buren, Michelangelo Pistoletto, JR, Prune Nourry, Vhils, Claire Tabouret, Constance Guisset, Fabrice Hyber or Susanna Fritscher.
International recognition
The Harvard University Graduate School of Design (GSD) awarded its 14th Veronica Rudge Green Prize in Urban Design to the Grand Paris Express for setting “a new standard for innovation in the field of urban design and the construction of sustainable territory”.
Established in 1986, the biennial Green Prize recognizes projects that make an exemplary contribution to the public realm of a city, improve the quality of life in that context, and demonstrate a humane and worthwhile direction for the design of urban environments.
The endowement Fund
Created in 2016, the Fonds de dotation du Grand Paris Express collects funds from corporate and individual donors in France and abroad to finance the cultural ambition of Grand Paris Express.
It has raised 4 million euros so far and aim to collect 25 million by 2030.