The Autohistorias [1] will be a moment of reflec­tion regarding the role of arts insti­tu­tions in a world tor­mented by nation­alist polar­iza­tions, a world shat­tered by new bor­ders and debates on iden­tity that fur­ther sep­a­rate indi­vid­uals from one another.

Autohistorias will con­vene about 40 pro­fes­sionals engaged in re-writing art his­tory, to elab­o­rate collectively a new shared nar­ra­tive, building on a mul­ti­plicity of artistic forums (art spaces, schools, col­lec­tives, or events) and indi­vidual itineraries, focusing on artists who nav­i­gated through sev­eral cultures and intel­lec­tual spheres over the 20th and 21st cen­turies.

Autohistorias will look into how insti­tu­tions and museums can best embody this diver­sity, while devel­oping research pro­grams and working jointly with a variety of civil society actors. Autohistorias will ques­tion the pro­duc­tion, clas­si­fi­ca­tion, and dis­sem­i­na­tion of her­itage, archives, and museum col­lec­tions. Experimenting with teaching and knowl­edge trans­mis­sion, Autohistorias will shape a space amenable to inventing utopias and alter­na­tive ways of life.

With (among others): Anahi Alviso-Marino (political scientist), Antariksa (historian and co-founder of KUNCI Cultural Studies Center, Yogyakarta, Indonesia), Eric Baudelaire (artist), Neil Beloufa (artist), Jean-François Boclé (artist), Mélanie Bouteloup (director, Bétonsalon – Center for Art and Research and Villa Vassilieff), Yann Chateigné (Head and Professor of the Visual Art department, HEAD-Genève, Switzerland), Marc Cheb Sun (journalist), Mathias Danbolt (art historian), Myriam Dao (artist), Gallien Déjean (curator, Treize, Paris, France), Andrey Egorov (head of research department, curator, Moscow Museum of Modern Art, Moscow, Russia), Kristine Khouri (independent researcher, writer and photographer based in Beirut, Lebanon), Koyo Kouoh (curator and director, RAW Material Company, Dakar, Senegal), Inga Lāce (curator, Latvian Center for Contemporary Art, Riga, Latvia), Franck Leibovici (poet, artist), Morad Montazami (research-curator for the Middle East and North Africa, supported by the Iran Heritage Foundation, Tate Modern, London, UK), Franck Ogou (archivist and supervisor, École du Patrimoine Africain, Porto-Novo, Benin), Timothy Perkins (artist), Sarah Rifky (co-founder of Beirut and founder of Cairo International Resource Center for Art, Cairo, Egypt), Sumesh Sharma (co-founder of Clark House Initiative, Bombay, India), Omar Slaouti (anti-racist activist), Françoise Vergès (political scientist, Global South(s) Professorship, MSH, Paris), Michelle Wong (researcher, Asia Art Archive, Hong-Kong), Nikita Yingqian Cai (chief curator, Guangdong Times Museum, Guangzhou, China).

Definitive pro­gram online shortly on www.villavassilieff.net.

More infor­ma­tion : info@villavas­silieff.net

Free entrance upon reser­va­tion before May 16, 2017. Registration: here

www.villavassilieff.net

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This sym­po­sium is part of the 40th anniver­sary of the Centre Pompidou. It is the high­light of debates and dis­cus­sions that occurred in the con­text of the Autohistorias pro­gram that has been deployed in our two sites of activity; Bétonsalon – Center for Art and Research and Villa Vassilieff, over the course of 2017.

This event is spon­sored by the Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication and by ADAGP Society of the Authors of Graphic and Plastic Arts. The ADAGP man­ages the rights of authors working in the field of visual arts (painters, sculp­tors, pho­tog­ra­phers, draughtsmen, archi­tects, …) and ded­i­cates part of the fees col­lected for pri­vate copying to the cre­ation and dis­sem­i­na­tion of works.

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Bétonsalon – Center for Art and Research is a non-profit organization established in Paris in 2003. Since 2007, Bétonsalon has been located on the campus of the Paris Diderot University. In 2016, we launched the Académie Vivante (Living Academy) program, an experimental research laboratory within the Epigenetics and Cell Fate unit (CNRS / Université Paris Diderot) that invites artists in residency. This same year, we launched Villa Vassillieff, our second site of activities, in the former studio of artist Marie Vassilieff, located in the heart of the Montparnasse neighborhood. Until 2013, this location was the Museum of Montparnasse. Villa Vassilieff is a cultural establishment of the City of Paris.

Villa Vassilieff intends to reconnect with the history of its location by inviting artists and researchers to take a contemporary look at the heritage of Montparnasse. Our exhibitions and public programs focus on exploring lesser-known resources and aim at re-writing and diversifying historical art narratives. Among many grant and residency opportunities, we joined forces with our leading sponsor Pernod Ricard to create the Pernod Ricard Fellowship, a residency program inviting four international artists, curators, or researchers every year in the Villa’s studio. We collaborate closely with museums and curators to design tailor-made research projects and bring innovative perspectives, as illustrated by the ongoing Marc Vaux program jointly led by Villa Vassilieff and Centre Pompidou’s Kandinsky Library.