I take this opportunity to be with you today to
this beautiful inauguration to greet all the art centers
contemporary French - these spontaneous shoots, of associative origin
mainly oriented towards research and production
and thus play a major role in the
dynamic contemporary art in France, alongside institutions
public. A role fully recognized by my department, which
has recently given it the framework guaranteeing its full visibility and
the necessary security for public actors.
Today we inaugurate the wing designed by Shigeru Ban, the architect
whose extraordinary creative gesture also gave us the Centre Pompidou-
Metz. The Consortium now has in Dijon, on these two sites of the
rue Quentin and de l'Usine, spaces to measure its success and
with an additional 4,000 square metres. This operation shows us
once again what the State and local authorities, in
the occurrence the City of Dijon, the Grand Dijon, the general council of the Gold Coast,
the Regional Council of Burgundy, by their financial commitments
and their motivation, can accomplish together, in their
close cooperation in the service of culture.
The Consortium is an extraordinary success story. Created in
1977 by Franck Gautherot and Xavier Douroux, and managed by
the association «Le coin du miroir», the Consortium was indeed very quickly
imposed as a place of reference for its critical reflection on the place
and the role of art in the urban fabric, for its
discovery of major artists in the early 1980s – I think
of course, Daniel Buren, Annette Messager, Bertrand Lavier; Claude
Rutault as well – recently seen at the Perrotin Gallery.
1990s, you support the generation of Pierre Huyghe, Philippe
Parreno, Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster, Rirkrit Tiravanija, Xavier Veilhan,
Sylvie Fleury… One of your great strengths is the relationship
established with the artists, many of whom have
donated some of their works. Over the years, you have
made up a collection of some 300 works of very high value,
which you will also donate to the Museum of Fine Arts in Dijon.
The Consortium is an extraordinary success story. Created in
1977 by Franck Gautherot and Xavier Douroux, and managed by
the association «Le coin du miroir», the Consortium was indeed very quickly
imposed as a place of reference for its critical reflection on the place
and the role of art in the urban fabric, for its
discovery of major artists in the early 1980s – I think
of course, Daniel Buren, Annette Messager, Bertrand Lavier; Claude
Rutault as well – recently seen at the Perrotin Gallery.
1990s, you support the generation of Pierre Huyghe, Philippe
Parreno, Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster, Rirkrit Tiravanija, Xavier Veilhan,
Sylvie Fleury… One of your great strengths is the relationship
established with the artists, many of whom have
donated some of their works. Over the years, you have
made up a collection of some 300 works of very high value,
which you will also donate to the Museum of Fine Arts in Dijon.
The Consortium is publishing, graphic design, production of works in
public space, film production – I’m thinking for example of
your co-production work with such prestigious directors
that Apichatpong Weerasethakul, for Uncle Boonme, Palme d'Or in
Cannes last year -, for an exceptional institution where rigour and
the artistic requirement have always been in order since its beginnings, and
best guarantor is also the atypical and collegial governance of your
six departments - Xavier Douroux and Franck Gautherot having been joined
in the 1990s by Eric Troncy, who is also currently
curator of the Fondation d'entreprise Ricard, by Stéphanie
Moisdon, Anne Pontégnie, Géraldine Minet, Seungduk Kim, Irene Bony,
Catherine Bonnotte. A collective signature for an art centre
gender model, with programs such as the new
sponsors”, where public orders are designed with the
Foundation of France and the people of the whole region, with your strong
presence in the field of delegated productions, as in Qatar,
that provide the Consortium with major visibility and international impact
in public planning. A hybrid institution therefore, very
dynamic, both local and global, from Seville and Venice to Seoul, which
combines trust and risk-taking, openness to the private through your fund
a phalanstery for utopians whose key words are
trust and generosity - in a word, a remarkable place. Quality
of the two opening exhibitions we have just visited, where François
Pompon meets On Kawara, co-organized with Dan Graham, only does
confirm this example.
And I don’t forget the Regional Fund of Contemporary Art of Burgundy, which
is undergoing a transformation. A new branch is in the process of
recruitment, whose mission will be to boost the FRAC in consultation
with the Consortium. In Dijon, this dynamic, which will benefit everyone, must
many to the missionaries of contemporary creation that you are.
Thank you.