The Biennale de Paris was launched in 1959 by André Malraux with the purpose of creating a meeting place for those who would define the art of the future. After a hiatus of several years, the Biennale was relaunched in 2000.
Since then it has not ceased in its efforts to unravel art from institutions. The Biennale de Paris rejects the use of art objects, which are too alienated by the market. It does not confine itself to a framework that would hinder its present actions or its political, economic and ideological evolution.
By acting upon everyday life and its unfolding realities, the Biennale seeks to redefine art by using criteria which rejects the idea of the artist as the sole protagonist in his work. Simply stated, the Biennale de Paris refuses to participate in today’s conventional art world. By mixing genres, exploiting porous frontiers and practicing the redistribution of roles, the Biennale de Paris allows art to appear precisely where it’s not expected.
Orientations
The Biennale de Paris rejects exhibitions and art objects. It refuses to be ”thought by art”. It identifies and defends true alternatives. It calls for “non-standard practices”
Strategy
To be liquid. If the ground floor is occupied, occupy the floor below.
An Invisual Art
No serious proof exists that art is dependent on the art object. We can therefore assume the opposite. The Biennale de Paris promotes invisual practices which do not need to be seen to exist. The invisual is visible but not as art.
A Non-Artistic Art
The Biennale de Paris defends an art which does not obey the common criteria for art: creative, emotive, aesthetic, spectacular…
An Art which Operates in Everyday Reality
The Biennale de Paris promotes practices that relegate art to the background in order to conquer everyday reality.
A Public of Indifference
With the Biennale de Paris there are no more art spectacles. The Biennale addresses what it calls “a public of indifference”: persons who, consciously or accidentally, interact with propositions that can no longer be identified as artistic.
A Unified Criticism
Organised as a network, the Biennale de Paris constitutes a critical mass composed of hundreds of initiatives, which would otherwise have been isolated and without impact.
A Horizontal Institution
The Biennale de Paris works horizontally. To participate means to become a partner. As such each partner decides the conditions linked to his or her proposed activities. This decision-making power acts on the structure and state of mind of the Biennale.
Agenda
The Biennale de Paris happens continuously all around the world every two years. Participants themselves set the places and dates of their activities.
The Biennale de Paris Competition
To artists who would like to abandon art, for either a short period or definitively, accepting that this resignation might become a resource for art, we propose: “Abstention as a form of art.” To participate send proposals by mail to :Biennale de Paris, Hôtel Salomon de Rothschild, 11 rue Berryer, 75008 Paris, France or by email to: concours@biennaledeparis.org.
The Biennale de Paris Archives
The archives of the Biennale de Paris are located at the Archives de la Critique d’art in Rennes (http://archivesdelacritiquedart.org). The Manager is the archivist Laurence Le Poupon. E-mail: laurence.lepoupon@archivesdelacritiquedart.org / Phone : 0033-(0)2-9937-5529. Other documents are located at the Centre Pompidou, the Institut National d’Histoire de l’Art (Inha) and the Institut National de l’Audiovisuel (Ina). In addition more than 7,500 web pages of archival material have been published online since 2009. The archives are available at http://archives.biennaledeparis.org.