A new breed of incubators for young artists is flourishing across Greater Paris. Examples include the Fiminco Foundation in Romainville, the Ateliers Médicis in Clichy-sous-Bois, Les Chambres in Aubervilliers, and Poush and Artagon in Pantin. This is a real boon, especially in these turbulent times, for young artists who find studios at affordable rents (between €10 and €15 per square meter). In addition, they benefit from a stimulating artistic community, support in their practice, and the promise of market visibility through regular meetings with key figures in the art world : collectors, patrons, and curators. This also helps solidify the reputation of the French capital as an international showcase for contemporary art and, on a local level, fosters connections in less privileged neighborhoods.

“When Poush opened, this formula was completely new for Paris! »

After two years on the border between Paris and Clichy, in a former 1970s office building, one of the best-known of these incubators moved a year ago to a former industrial site in Aubervilliers (Seine-Saint-Denis). Heading north of the inner suburbs of Paris, we meet the residents of Poush, where some 250 French and international artists, with an average age of 35, selected through an application process (with a waiting list!), have been able to set up their equipment, canvases, cameras, models, brushes, and more. Among them are students, as well as established artists such as Dhewadi Hadjab, Rayan Yasmineh, and Daniel Otero Torres. A few minutes' walk from the metro station on Avenue Jean Jaurès, the space is the former address of the LT Pivers perfumery, made available for two years by the Société de la Tour Eiffel. Behind the high walls of the complex, one discovers a maze of twelve brick and steel buildings converted into art studios, after having briefly housed a data center. Visual artists, designers, dancers, performers, and photographers like the Franco-Algerian Maya-Inès Touam are delighted to be able to share a 200m² space with two other female artists, a space that can be converted into a shooting studio and even a showroom.

If the residents who now populate the factory, instead of the 1 workers who at the time produced cosmetics and soaps, have radically changed the spirit of the place, the pace does not seem to have slowed down. Open days, succession of " solo shows », group exhibitions in the huge 2 m000 exhibition hall, visits from art market professionals, training workshops on administrative aspects (rights, contracts, taxation) as well as on the artistic and technical level... It creates, it brainstorms, it exchanges... A real hive driven by the desire to support freedom of creation, in particular by freeing artists from land pressure. Many of us in Paris need a workspace, testifies this visual artist “ Pusher from the first hour. When Poush opened, this formula was completely new for Paris! ».
Neither squat, nor Cité internationale des arts, nor LVMH métiers d'art residence... A hybrid model whose usefulness is acknowledged by all players in the sector, and even beyond.he occupation by artists of an industrial site like this one invites a new reading of spaces that can be inspiring for the real estate companies that manage them! », argues the artistic director of Poush, Yvannoé Kruger, present since the beginning of the adventure. And some cite Berlin as a reference city, with the example of the Kunstraum, a huge artistic hub in the intramural district of Kreuzberg.

"We were kind of helped by the confinement"

At the origin of this impulse caused by the emergence of these new places, we find, in the case of Push, the Manifesto agency specializing, among other things, in the temporary reconversion, for artistic purposes, of this type of unoccupied building. The movement was launched in 2018 by the founding team, Laure Confavreux-Colliex and Hervé Digne, with the opening of goldsmithery, a first site in Saint-Denis in the form of a trial run. But it was the next step, in the Clichy building, which was absolutely decisive for Poush to be recognized by institutions, collectors, art experts, media... " We were kind of helped by the lockdown », continues Yvannoé Kruger. " While the art centers took a year to reopen, we were able to show our workshops, as soon as the confinement was lifted, by professionals who were very happy to be able to find the artists and discover their works produced during the successive confinements. ". Since then, Poush has set up a board of directors which includes some big names in the industry, from Guillaume Désanges (director of the Palais de Tokyo) to Rebecca Lamarche-Vadel (Lafayette Anticipations) or even Paula Aisemberg from the Stock Exchange. Emerige Revelations. " Personalities but also spirits guarantors of a certain idea of ​​art “, he ends.
An El Dorado, according to the artists who met there, who quickly took their ease in these vast workshops with an unexpected height of ceiling for Paris. " Here, we breathe! “says one of them! Without ever forgetting the deadline. Because unless the temporary lease is renewed, in February 2024 we will have to pack up again!

Among the ephemeral art spaces of Greater Paris, Artagon (pronounced Artagonne) is also worth a visit. Located on the edge of the Quatre-Chemins district, not far from Poush, but in the town of Pantin, the site, which opened in a former school, is demonstrating its unique character nine months after its launch. Fifty residents, with an average age of 24, have been occupying the space since September 2022 for eighteen months. Young artists, but not only… Journalists, architects, landscape designers, and other project leaders… All were selected based on their applications to be part of this first cohort. “ Supporting these young people is at the heart of our approach at Artagon Pantin ,” explains Jeanne Turpault, the site manager. “ And it’s daily support, ranging from reviewing applications to helping with budget preparation, or even providing curatorial input on an upcoming exhibition.” Not forgetting the 500- to 700-hour training program organized in collaboration with some fifty professionals, resident dinners, workshop visits by professionals—though not mandatory for residents—and public meetings that bring the public together once a month with prominent figures. Think of us as a toolbox!

"We have a strong desire to anchor ourselves in the territory, which materializes through a series of artistic and cultural actions"

The previous evening, it was artist Clément Cogitore's turn—winner of the 2018 Marcel Duchamp Prize—to present his latest film in the college's agora to an audience of two hundred people. In this main building, with its distinctly 1970s aesthetic, there are equipped studios, some with sound equipment and a recording booth, others with a metal workshop. These resources are available to the residents. Led by Anna Labouze and Keimis Henni, founders and directors of Artagon and directors of the Magasins Généraux creative center in Pantin, the project first took shape in Marseille, with its initial location in a former Pernod Ricard factory in the Sainte-Marthe district. Inspired by the Rijksakademie in Amsterdam and the Open School East in London, Artagon Pantin aims to distinguish itself from other Parisian art incubators through the profile of its young and emerging residents and the intensity of its mentorship: “ In this first cohort, we have no established artists. The goal of these 18 months is their professional development ,” emphasizes Jeanne Turpault. The center also has another mission: to be open to the residents of the neighborhood.

Within the grounds of the former college, a restaurant run by female chefs within the " Pas si loin " association, a children's playground with street furniture installed in the trees, a pétanque court, and the municipal toy library invite residents to come and interact with the residents of Artagon on a daily basis. " We have a strong desire to be rooted in the local area, which is manifested through a series of artistic and cultural activities. These activities are in no way at odds with our mission to support the emerging art scene; quite the opposite! Artagon is not a closed-off place, nor is it an art space incomprehensible to the public. In this Quatre Chemins district, we are essentially fulfilling a public service mission ," concludes the head of Artagon Pantin, emphasizing that the expansion of these new incubators into the first, second, and even third ring of Paris cannot happen without careful consideration and integration efforts.

If Paris dreams of becoming the international capital of the arts, Greater Paris is only at the beginning of its great transformation... A phenomenon whose stakes are inseparable from the logic of this conquest of territory by these players in the art world. In New York or London, former industrial wastelands have long been places of intense gentrification, with square meters becoming inaccessible to artists.

Photo Poush Aubervilliers - (c) Romain Darnaud