Nuit Blanche 2020 – Commune présence

We live at the heart of a contradiction: in the enjoyment of a frenetic activity (economic, technological, tourist, social as well) that is increasingly detached from the natural world, and in the unprecedented awareness that this activity is weakening our humanity – a fact that we are reminded of by a virus probably transmitted by the pangolin, one of the most poached mammals on the planet.

Is it possible to slow down? Is it possible to rethink the rationalist, extractivist and anthropocentric way in which we live and see the world? Is it possible to make room for a more poetic relationship, a compositional relationship with the plurality of worlds – human, vegetable, animal – in their infinite variety?

The times invite us to build this common presence, in the words of René Char, to take part in life in all its complexity, with its «marvellous share of rebellion of charity», its equivocal share of mystery, uncertainty and discovery.

The Nuit Blanche 2020 will propose to turn our eyes, and all our senses, towards the immense richness of life, to learn to be attentive to it in a different way.

If a whole current of human sciences (anthropology, philosophy, political science) and earth sciences is today calling for this change of perspective, some artists are also drawing it, sometimes for a long time, by imagining openings, crossroads, in our experience of the world.

The list of artists and works of art is currently being drawn up, as are the itineraries, revolving around the museums of Modern Art in Paris, Bourdelle, Zadkine, and the Petit Palais.

 

Jeanne Brun, Fabrice Hergott, Christophe Leribault, Amélie Simier