New types of young artist nurseries are flourishing in all four corners of Greater Paris. They are called the Fondation Fiminco in Romainville, the Ateliers Médicis in Clichy-sous-Bois, the Chambres in Aubervilliers, or even Poush et Artagon Pantin... A real boon, especially in these turbulent times, for young artists who find, on site, studios with moderate rents (between €10 and €15 per square meter, editor's note). Added to this: a stimulating artistic community, support in their practices as well as a promise of visibility on the market thanks to regular meetings with those who make the art world, collectors, patrons, curators. What also contribute to establishing the reputation of the French capital as an international showcase of contemporary art, and at the local level, to create links in less favored neighborhoods.

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

After two years spent on the edge between Paris and Clichy, in a former office building dating from the 70s, one of the best-known of these incubators invested, a year ago, in one of the former industrial sites of Aubervilliers (Seine-Saint-Denis). Heading to the north of the inner suburbs of Paris, to meet the residents of Poush where some 250 French and international artists, with an average age of 35, selected on file (with a waiting list!) were able to set up equipment, canvases, cameras, models, brushes... Among them students, as well as artists already launched in the circuit like Dhewadi Hadjab, Rayan Yasmineh or Daniel Otero Torres. A few minutes walk from the metro station, on Avenue Jean Jaurès, the place is the former address of the LT Pivers perfumery, made available for a period of two years by the Société de la Tour Eiffel. Behind the high walls of the enclosure, we discover a maze of twelve brick and steel buildings converted into art workshops, after having hosted a data center for a while. Visual artists, designers, dancers, performers and photographers like the Franco-Algerian Maya-Inès Touam, happy to be able to enjoy with two other female artists a 200m2 set convertible into a shooting studio and even into 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!

In the family of ephemeral artistic places 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 that opened in a former college shows, nine months after its opening, all its specificity. Fifty residents with an average age of 24 have occupied the premises since September 2022, and this for eighteen months. Young artists but not only… Journalists, architects, landscapers and other project leaders... All selected on file to be part of this first promotion. Supporting these young people is at the heart of our approach at Artagon Pantin explains Jeanne Turpault, site manager. " And it is daily support, which goes from proofreading a file to helping to create a budget, or even a curatorial point of view on an upcoming exhibition. Not to mention the 500 to 700-hour training program organized in collaboration with around fifty professionals, resident dinners, studio visits by professionals - but not mandatory for residents -, and public meetings that bring the public together once a month around personalities. You have to see 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 night before, it was the turn of the artist Clément Cogitore - winner of the 2018 Marcel Duchamp Prize - to come and present his latest film, in the agora of the college, in front of an audience of two hundred people. In this main building with a very seventies look, there are equipped studios, here with sound equipment and a recording booth, there with a metal workshop. Elements made available to 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 saw the light of day in Marseille, with a first site in a former Pernod Ricard factory in the Sainte-Marthe district. Inspired by the Rijksakademie in Amsterdam or the Open School East in London, Artagon Pantin intends to stand out from other Parisian incubators, by the profile of its residents, young and emerging, and by the intensity of the monitoring: " In this first promotion we have no artist already installed. The objective of these 18 months lies in their professionalization “, insists Jeanne Turpault. The center also has another mission: its openness to the inhabitants of the district.

Within the grounds of the former college, a restaurant run by women chefs within the association " Not so far “, a playground for children with street furniture set up in the trees, a petanque court and the municipal toy library invites residents to come and visit the residents of Artagon on a daily basis. " We have a strong desire to anchor ourselves in the territory, which materializes through a series of artistic and cultural actions, which have nothing to do with our mission of supporting the emerging artistic scene, quite the contrary! Artagon is not a closed place nor an incomprehensible art space for the public. We have, in this district of Quatre Chemins, almost a public service mission ", concludes the head of Artagon Pantin, pointing out the fact that the annexation of the first, second, or even third Parisian belt, by these new nurseries, could not be done without reflection and integration actions.

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