Manifesta 13 Reveals Artistic Concept

Image courtesy of Manifesta

Manifesta 13 Marseille
Traits d’union.s
June 7 – December 1, 2020
https://manifesta.org

Manifesta 13 Marseille’s director, Hedwig Fijen, and the members of the board of Manifesta 13 Marseille, are proud to announce that the 13th edition of the biennial and the first ever in France has received the High Patronage of Mr Emmanuel MACRON, President of the French Republic.

This recognition confirms the ambition of Manifesta 13 Marseille, its high-quality programme, international calibre and inclusive character.

The artistic concept and initial elements of Manifesta 13 Marseille

Following the announcement of the title of Manifesta 13 Marseille Traits d’union.s, on the 29th of June, Hedwig Fijen, director of Manifesta, Jean de Loisy and Marc Bollet, respectively vice-president and secretary of the Manifesta 13 Marseille’s board, and all members of the Manifesta 13 Marseille’s board, Marie-Hélène Feraud-Grégori, City of Marseille councillor for the Opera, the Theatre and the Contemporary art, and the Artistic Team members are happy to announce the concept of the upcoming biennial as well as a first selection of its venues.

The Artistic Team, consisting of Alya Sebti, director of Berlin’s ifa Gallery; architect Marina Otero Verzier, director of Research and Development at Het Nieuwe Instituut in Rotterdam, The Netherlands; Katerina Chuchalina, chief curator at the V-A-C Foundation in both Moscow and Venice; and Stefan Kalmár, director of the ICA in London, have created a concept that “.. seeks now to evolve Manifesta’s legacy of Manifesta 12 Palermo by asking: How can we not only co-exist, but actually come together and create new ties of solidarity?”

“By taking the Condicio Marseillaise as a starting point and by setting new relationships into play between local realities and those of Manifesta 13’s participants, Traits d’union.s connects local debates with those happening elsewhere. Through a deep engagement with the conditions of change and exchange, Manifesta 13 will add voices to the tense and inspiring narratives already existing within Marseille.”

“The Artistic Team of Manifesta 13 will work, among others, closely with, within and across six of Marseille’s most prominent institutions: Musée Cantini, Centre de la Vieille Charité, Musée Grobet-Labadié, Muséum d’Histoire Naturelle, Musée des Beaux- Arts and Conservatoire National à Rayonnement Régional de Marseille. Manifesta 13 Marseille’s participants will infuse these existing institutions with different voices, activating the possibilities that these institutions still hold, by temporarily expanding their narratives outwards and inwards, giving way to a more permeable, more open, maybe sometimes even more vulnerable conditions towards new forms of publicness, leaving them perhaps better equipped to speak to some of the challenges of the 21st Century.”

Museums play an important role within our society in order to bring people together and to help them understand the complexities of the world around us. The current discourse around museums is shifting in order for institutions to become more inclusive, diverse and to create coexistence. The decision to work with a range of venues in Marseille, including many of the leading museums, is amongst others to create stages on which stories will be told, where plots will be unravelled and where new alliances will be formed.

“Traits d’union.s venues are elastic sites within a geography of actions and illusions, promises and premonitions, demands and resolutions: artists, poets, writers, scholars and journalists wield the pen to unveil forgotten, hidden, emergent or just never happened narratives.”

Please find the full concept here.

Espace Manifesta 13

Espace Manifesta 13, inaugurated on the 3rd of October 2019 by Pierre Dartout, Prefect of the Provence-Alpes- côte d’Azur Region and Prefect of the Bouches-du-Rhône represented by Nicolas Dufaud, general secretary of the Préfecture des Bouches-du-Rhône region, Jean-Claude Gaudin, Mayor of Marseille represented by Anne-Marie d’Estienne d’Orves, Deputy of the Mayor of Marseille for Culture and Marie-Hélène Feraud-Gregori, Municipal councillor for the Opera, Theatre and Contemporary Art, Martine Vassal, President of the Bouches-du-Rhône Departmental Council represented by Sabine Bernasconi, Mayor of the 1st and 7th arrondissements and Vice-President of the Bouches-du-Rhône Departmental Council for Culture, and Hedwig Fijen, director of Manifesta 13, is a space for encounters and exchanges, open to the neighbourhood of Noailles and to its inhabitants at the very heart of Marseille. It will host many activities in the year to come including performances, screenings, talks, exhibitions, amongst other events.

Inaugural artistic intervention: Calla Henkel and Max Pitegoff

The Artistic Team of Manifesta 13 Marseille will invite many actors from civil societies and the cultural sphere to take over Espace Manifesta 13. On the occasion of its inauguration, Espace Manifesta 13 has been reinvented by Calla Henkel and Max Pitegoff, founders of New Theater and TV, based in Berlin.

Henkel and Pitegoff seized this opportunity to use the wooden panels which have been covering the facade of Manifesta’s office on 42 La Canebière for months, in order to rebuild the interior of this space. Bringing new life to otherwise discarded materials, Henkel and Pitegoff have created a stage, a set, a platform for others to use in order to create new narratives in and for the city. This ethos reflects upon the concept of Manifesta 13 Marseille, to unite different voices in order to create new stories. This flexible space will serve pre-biennial activities such as events including performances, screenings, and talks, a library project and the ticketing office.

Les Parallèles du Sud

As with every edition of Manifesta, Manifesta 13 Marseille includes parallel events, where local and international professionals and organisations are invited to take part in the biennial alongside the main programme and benefit from Manifesta’s international reach and visitors.

The projects of Les Parallèles du Sud are featured, associated with, and promoted through digital and analogue Manifesta 13 Marseille communication channels including the website, guidebook and social media.

Reflecting upon the main ambitions of Manifesta 13 Marseille, the programme Les Parallèles du Sud aims to highlight the richness of the artistic and cultural local scene, creating long-lasting connections and creative collaborations between a local and international network of professionals, cultural producers, associations and institutions. In order to match the selection criteria, all projects have at least 2 partners, including one local partner and a clear international dimension.

The open call of Les Parallèles du Sud was hugely successful, receiving 360 applications from all over the world. The jury commented on the high quality level of the submissions with 97 projects being shortlisted at this stage. 60% of those projects being regional, 25% international, and 15% national. The projects are a reflection of the rich cultural infrastructure of the city of Marseille and its region whilst simultaneously celebrating international collaborations. Manifesta 13 Marseille will reveal the full list of participating projects by the end of November 2019.

Les Parallèles du Sud is supported by the Région Sud which grants financial support to some of the selected projects.