Paris Biennale is a dynamic institution dedicated to promoting new forms of art. Over the years, it has created a unique ecosystem composed of institutions, projects, and initiatives aimed at transforming the established art system. This ecosystem not only rethinks art itself but also focuses on the factors that influence it, including education and economics.
Associated Document: Planigram of the Paris Biennale
A selection of institutions, initiatives, and projects within the Paris Biennale ecosystem:
World Forum of Art Economies (FomeA)
The economy of art is not limited to the dominant triangular model: the art market, patronage, and subsidies. Alternatives already exist. Created by the Paris Biennale in 2018, the World Forum of Art Economies (FomeA) aims to raise awareness of these alternatives, highlight the dependency between art and economics, and bring attention to the stakes of their relationship. FomeA is a space where artists can discover alternative economic models and design their own with the help of experts. The first edition of the forum took place from June 22 to 24, 2018, at the City Hall of Paris. The second edition will be held in Paris from October 28 to 29, 2024, followed by the third edition in Bangkok during the Paris Biennale in Bangkok, from February 26 to 27, 2025. Web: www.fomea.fr
ENDA (National Art School of Paris)
ENDA is the first research school in the arts. Its program offers the opportunity to break free from the conventions inherited from 20th-century art and to highlight some of the challenges at work in 21st-century art—a history in the making, in which everyone is invited to imagine their own place. ENDA has its own educational standards, methodologies, and tools, whose level does not exist in higher art education in France or other countries. ENDA enables:
- The development of a singular art practice, free from art standards.
- The creation of an economic model specific to this practice, ensuring financial independence.
- The application of acquired skills to all aspects of professional and personal life.
- The acquisition of flexibility to ensure continuity in life and work in any context, even in times of environmental hostility.
- The imagination of various ways to reinvent or redefine oneself through art.
- The reconciliation of professional and personal life.
- The creation of a thriving ecosystem, free from the constraints imposed by the dominant art world.
- The development of critical and self-critical thinking, with the ability to think and act independently.
- The experimentation of subversive practices.
One specific feature of ENDA is considering the artistic ecosystem as an integral part of the practice itself. In parallel with their artistic practice, researchers develop its economic model, ecological, collaborative, political, and multimodal dimensions, as well as its terminology, dissemination, legal status, strategy, and, if applicable, its specific structure. Another particularity lies in collective intelligence work. At ENDA, artist-researchers work together and for each other. Web: www.enda.fr
Autonomous Enda
Autonomous Enda is the online version of ENDA. It offers a complete, theoretical, and practical curriculum that can be followed at one’s own pace from any computer. Just like ENDA in person, ENDA Autonome adopts a systemic approach to art. In addition to artistic practice, the user-researcher is encouraged to design their economic model, strategic, ecological, collaborative, multimodal, social, and political dimensions, as well as its practical aspects and, if applicable, its social form. Web: www.enda.education
Delocalizations
The Paris Biennale is not limited to the French capital. It deploys itself worldwide, adopting a model that identifies and activates potentials within their specific contexts. The goal is to move away from the traditional model of exporting European Western art model to work directly with territories and their specificities, thereby highlighting singular proposals. Each delocalization has its own team, partners, budget, and program. A delocalization can have a lasting impact and generate long-term projects or dynamics.
The Paris Biennale in Nicosia
Theme: Reinventing the Terminology of Art
Dates: October 20–23, 2010
Location: Nicosia, Cyprus
The Paris Biennale in Bujumbura
Dates: April 13–20, 2012
Location: Bujumbura, Burundi
The Paris Biennale in La Reunion
Dates: September 3–16, 2016
Location: La Réunion, France
The Paris Biennale in New York
Dates: September 24–October 3, 2011
Location: New York, United States
The Paris Biennale in Beirut
Dates: June 27–July 3, 2016
Location: Beirut, Lebanon
The Paris Biennale in Guatemala
Theme: Can Art Be a Vector for Education?
Dates: November 1–11, 2017
Location: Guatemala City, Guatemala
The Paris Biennale in Luxembourg
Theme: The Air I Breathe, You Will Breathe
Dates: October 1, 2018–September 30, 2020
Location: Luxembourg, Worldwide
The Paris Biennale in Bangkok
Theme: Creating Space to Rethink Art
Dates: February 21–28, 2025
Location: Bangkok
The Paris Biennale in Poland
Dates: June 2025
Location: Torun
The Paris Biennale Prize
The Paris Biennale is launching a one-of-a-kind prize, awarded randomly by artificial intelligence, recognizing practices that go beyond the production of art objects. It is the first democratic and objective prize in the art world.
Collection
Addressing the issue of art collection means rethinking art in terms of its destination. To remain relevant, the concept of collection must evolve as art transforms. The aim of this section is to prefigure models of art collection in line with practices that are not inherently collectible and challenge the prevailing model of art collection, which is based on the accumulation of art objects. Considering art collection in this perspective questions the notion of material value and ownership. The Paris Biennale has initiated a symposium on this issue, titled “What Art Collection for the Future?”
What Art Collection for the Future?
Two editions of this symposium have been organized: in 2011 during the Paris Biennale in New York at the Queens Museum of Art, and in 2015 at the Museum of Modern Art of Paris. These symposiums brought together artists, collectors, theorists, as well as directors or heads of institutions such as the Centre Pompidou, the Museum of Modern Art of Paris, and the CNAP (Ministry of Culture). The third edition of the forum will be held in Torun, Poland, in 2025.
Paris Review
Paris Review is a leading art magazine with an editorial line aimed at shifting the definition of art by considering it through the lens of new content. Paris Review was created in Paris in 1829 by Mister Veron with the intention of producing a new literary collection. Its uniqueness was in pre-publishing authors. Over time, it expanded into fields other than literature. A living legend of the 19th century, Paris Review was reborn in 2020 in an entirely new form while retaining its forward-looking nature and specializing in art. It is no longer a literary magazine but an art magazine that publishes articles dealing with thought and artistic practices freed from the normative regime of art. The magazine promotes new forms of art. Paris Review is a free online publication. Its release schedule is random. Each issue contains a single article. Web: www.revuedeparis.fr