Triennial
The ART & INDUSTRIE Triennial is a unique collective initiative in the Hauts-de-France region, based in Dunkirk: the launch of a new art and design triennial in Europe.
Dedicated to the relationship between art and industry, it explores the unique creative journeys of artists from the 20th and 21st centuries. In doing so, it builds bridges between creativity and the economy, showcasing a region characterised by its industrial and port complex and thereby creating synergies between regional institutions and stakeholders.
Characterised by a multidisciplinary approach, it invites us to reflect on the past, present and future of our relationship with industry through the eyes of artists, engineers, designers, graphic designers and architects. This convergence of two worlds also provides an opportunity to reflect on a wide range of social, economic and environmental issues.
THE ART & INDUSTRY TRIENNIAL #3
Exhibition curator: Emmanuel Tibloux
Industry shapes our world by producing the vast majority of the goods and services we consume or use. This mode of production is now being called into question on several fronts. Since the second half of the 20th century, European industry has been feeling the effects of successive energy crises and of globalisation, which has encouraged a trend towards offshoring, the local counterpart of which is deindustrialisation. Moreover, environmental and social demands are now so pressing that they are driving industry to reinvent itself extensively and profoundly. From materials and processes to infrastructure and supply chains, the aim is to develop new ways of conducting industrial activity, striving to set an example in environmental and social terms.
STARTING ALL OVER AGAIN: this could well be the watchword and the great challenge of our time, in industry as in many other fields. This dynamic of general re-evaluation and reinvention is precisely what is at work in artistic creation, where design, architecture and fashion are closely linked to the industrial world. How can the arts support industry in its reinvention? How can they help it to START ALL OVER AGAIN? This is the question that will lie at the heart of this third edition of the Art and Industry Triennial. Taken both literally and figuratively, it takes on many different forms.
What should be done with what remains of the industry – in terms of materials, infrastructure and the collective imagination? How can we develop practices for re-use? How can we redevelop brownfield sites? What should be done with disused infrastructure? How can we promote industrial heritage and legacy, both tangible and intangible? How can we reinvent an industry that sets an example in terms of its environmental and social impact? How can we reconcile the driving forces of creativity with a world from which they sometimes tend to drift apart? How can we move beyond the clichés and conventional dichotomies pitting industry against craftsmanship or nature? How can we look after industry whilst acknowledging the need for its transformation so that we can look after everything? In short, how can we START ALL OVER AGAIN?
JOIN LES RÉSONANCES
The RÉSONANCES contribute to the Triennale’s unique identity within the region. Partners may:
- – Highlight your proposal.
- – Express an interest in working with us on projects based on the FRAC collection, artist-in-residence programmes, etc.
- – Or ask to be put in touch with local artists and organisations.
Would you like to take part in the Triennial? Please contact Sara Klein: s.klein@fracgrandlarge-hdf.fr
. To find out all about *Résonances*, please see the presentation pack.
BECOME A PARTNER/SPONSOR
Support the Triennale by getting involved in a unique event that combines an international reach with strong regional roots.
By becoming a patron of the Triennale, you are supporting today’s contemporary arts and, through your commitment, helping to boost the appeal of Dunkirk and the surrounding region.
Our partners benefit from enhanced visibility and opportunities to promote the Triennale’s artistic and inclusive projects.
The Act of 1 August 2003 on patronage, associations and foundations allows companies sponsoring the Triennale to claim a tax deduction of up to 60 per cent of their donation (up to a limit of 0.5 per cent of their turnover excluding VAT) – 66 per cent for individuals (up to a limit of 20 per cent of their taxable income).
Would you like to support the Triennale? Please contact Aurélien Knoff: a.knoff@fracgrandlarge-hdf.fr
THE 2023
ART & INDUSTRY TRIENNIAL: CHALEUR HUMAINE
10 June 2023 — 14 January 2024
Entitled *Chaleur humaine*, the second edition of the Art & Industrie Triennial, which took place throughout the second half of 2023 in Dunkirk and across the Hauts-de-France region, explored the theme of energy.
To tackle this wide-ranging theme, Dunkirk’s contemporary art centre (Frac Grand Large and LAAC), which is organising and overseeing the triennial, has invited two independent curators: Anna Colin and Camille Richert, assisted by Henriette Gillerot.
Their curatorial approach involves examining how the energy challenges that have emerged since the end of the ‘Trente Glorieuses’ have shaped art, design and architecture, and, conversely, how these disciplines have contributed to global energy and environmental discourses, representations and issues. Through these diverse artistic projects, visitors will be invited to explore practices addressing excessive energy consumption, access to natural resources, issues of sustainability and environmental responsibility, as well as changes to landscapes and humanity’s relationship with the sensory and the visible, the intensity of life caught between forces and fatigue, and the circulation of data and energy flows.
To find out more about this second edition: www.triennale.fr
THE 2019
ART & INDUSTRY TRIENNIAL: AN EXTRAORDINARY FIRST EDITION
GIGANTISME — ART & INDUSTRIE brought together masterpieces of post-war art and design, whilst uniting the region’s associative, educational and economic sectors. It provided a wide-reaching platform for a fresh perspective on the history of art from the post-war period to the present day, linked to economic and industrial development, within a context of transition in which key stakeholders were deeply involved.
With the two guest curators, Géraldine Gourbe and Gregory Lang, and in partnership with the LAAC, this Triennial brought together more than 327 works and 900 pavilions spread across Dunkirk’s five marinas, 70 events and meetings with artists, 12 projects recognised across the region, and a programme of around twenty films by artists and filmmakers, screened in Dunkirk and Amiens.
There are also 10 monumental installations that have found their place in public spaces and in the hearts of the people of Dunkirk, thanks to the support and commitment of more than 40 patrons who brilliantly rose to the technical challenges they faced (550 m² of paint on the Kursaal by Maya Hayuk, 48 tonnes of metal by Bernar Venet, two gigantic tanks in the industrial harbour by Tania Mouraud…)
This Triennial has thus helped to bring the organisers closer to local residents and to offer a fresh perspective on the region. For its inaugural edition, the Triennial adopted a historical approach, drawing on both sociological and cultural sources. This was a bold and apt choice, judging by the extensive feedback from visitors from all corners of the world.