Isabelle Bertolotti, director of the Contemporary Art Biennale, explains her choice: “I am highly receptive to the values that Alexia champions and to how committed she is to artists. She has earned wide recognition for her dedication to spreading art to a wide audience throughout a territory, in both museum and urban-space settings. She has done exemplary work at the contemporary art museum of Val de Marne (MAC VAL), providing artists with long-term support; and also in primarily event-based projects, such as twice curating Nuit Blanche in Paris.”

About Alexia Fabre
Alexia Fabre has been Director of the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts de Paris since January 2022.

Holding the grade of Chief Curator of Heritage, she previously headed MAC VAL, the contemporary art museum of the Department of Val-de-Marne, in Vitry-sur-Seine (2005-2022). She was recruited in 1998 by said Department to research and bring to life this new museum, and wrote the scientific and cultural project for it. At MAC VAL, Alexia Fabre ran an arts and culture policy for contemporary artists and audiences, applying the values of diversity and equality; women artists enjoy equal representation there.

Alexia Fabre also sat on the expert committee of the Grand Paris Express for the artistic direction of certain rail stations in Val-de-Marne. She co-curated the exhibition Lune, du voyage réel aux voyages imaginaires at the Grand Palais, Paris, in 2019 and was guest curator of Manif d’Art – La Biennale de Québec in 2017. In 2009 and 2011, she was joint artistic director of Nuit Blanche Paris with Frank Lamy, head of temporary exhibitions at MAC VAL. A graduate of the École du Louvre and of the Institut National du Patrimoine, Alexia Fabre began her career as Director of the Musée Départemental de Gap (1993-1998).

About La Biennale de Lyon
Established in 1991, the Lyon Biennale is one of the world’s leading contemporary art biennials and the premier art event in France. The 2022 attracted nearly 280,000 visits (half of them by under-26s) to the venues with a ticket office, and nearly 15 million people to the artworks in public space.

La Biennale de Lyon is jointly funded by Lyon Métropole, the Ministry of Culture, the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Region and the City of Lyon, as well as by numerous private-sector and institutional partners.

The 17th edition will run from September 2024 to January 2025.