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Palais de Tokyo announces Nouvelles vagues (New waves) 53 exhibitions all over Paris and at Palais de Tokyo

After Cold Sun, Palais de Tokyo, along with thirty galleries and art spaces throughout Paris, innovates once more to emphasize the emergence of the figure of the curator in exhibitions on view June 21–September 9, 2013.

At Palais de Tokyo, Nouvelles vagues (New waves) is a large-scale event organized by 21 international young curators (hailing from 13 different countries), working individually or in groups, and selected by a jury from over 500 candidates. Nouvelles vagues will transform the entirety of Palais de Tokyo’s exhibition space and spread out throughout the city, putting on display the artists, ideas and situations endorsed by these visionary young professionals. Owing to the enthusiasm of the Comité professionnel des galeries d’art (Professional Committee of Art Galleries), this event will be completed through the involvement of some thirty Parisian galleries. In partnership with Palais de Tokyo, these institutions will each invite a young curator to conceive an exhibition within their walls. Together, these fifty proposals will mark an unprecedented moment in Paris’ artistic life and present a fresh perspective on today’s artistic practices.

This event is a unique opportunity to emphasize the emergence of this new definition of the curator, a position that has flourished alongside the artist for the past decades. This essential figure, who organizes exhibitions across the globe, is neither an art dealer nor an institutional curator. He or she does not belong to the academic establishment nor feels subjected to the rules of the art market. Instead, here is a free spirit, a maverick looking for new directions, a nomad who knows no boundaries and is always searching for original poetic, aesthetic and political adventures. Working alone or as part of a group, the curator creates original, temporary environments in which artists from different backgrounds come together around shared goals, ideas and visions. No longer the mouthpiece of a period or a movement, no longer the theorist of a new chapter of art history, they thrive on the challenge of working side by side with the artists.

The jury is composed of Hans Ulrist Obrich (Co-director of the Serpentine Gallery, London), Massimiliano Gioni (Associate Director and Curator, New Museum, New York), Jens Hoffmann (Deputy Director, Jewish Museum, New York), Jean-Hubert Martin (independent curator), Xavier Franceschi (Director, Frac Ile-de-France),Colette Barbier (Director, Fondation d’entreprise Ricard, Paris), Fabienne Leclerc (Professional Committee of Art Galleries), Alain Reinaudo (Institut Français), Jean de Loisy (President of Palais de Tokyo) and curators of Palais de Tokyo.

Palais de Tokyo
13, avenue du Président Wilson
75 116 Paris
www.palaisdetokyo.com