Gestures as a living archive

© Pauline Assathiany

Gestures : a living archive at the intersection of memory, know-how, and ecology

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Roundtable moderated by curators Laura Drouet and Olivier Lacrouts ( d-o-t-s ), bringing together designers dach&zephir and Emma Bruschi, as well as philosopher, sociologist and cabinetmaker Aurélien Fouillet.

A craft and the gestures that accompany it reveal a deep relationship with the world. These gestures, sensitive to social and environmental changes, are nonetheless fragile. Sharing a gesture means allowing it to continue to exist—along with the lives it sustains. It also means creating connections—especially across generations and species—while passing on a way of doing, thinking, and feeling. Presented as part of the exhibition Memo. Remembering the Futures, this roundtable invites us to consider gestures as living archives and acts of resistance in the face of the disappearance of certain ecosystems.

Saturday, October 25, 2025 at 4.00 pm
Free admission, reservation recommended


Ecotechnologies

Ecotechnologies

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Conference with Ludovic Duhem, Philosopher and Artist

In the face of the ecological emergency, debates swing between two contradictory positions: should we halt all technological progress to preserve nature, or, on the contrary, rely on innovations capable of solving environmental crises?

In this conference, Ludovic Duhem offers a critical reflection on these opposing views. He will examine the illusions of both environmentalism and technicism, and explore the promises — as well as the limitations — of ecotechnologies, particularly low-tech solutions, which have become essential in recent years.

Ludovic Duhem holds a PhD in philosophy, history of science and technology, as well as a Master’s degree in Fine Arts.

Friday, October 3 at 6:30 PM
Free admission with reservation.


Birds : our sensory heritage

© Zoe Arnaud

Birds : our sensory heritage

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Round table moderated by Arnaud Dubois

Echoing the themes of the exhibition Memo. Remembering the Futures, which invites us to enhance our sensitive attention to the diverse forms of life, this round table moderated by Arnaud Dubois, anthropologist and CNRS research fellow, will discuss the importance of bird songs in our soundscapes and the notion of the phonocene. It will bring together designer and classical singer Zoé Arnaud, ornithologist, biologist, and professor at the National Museum of Natural History Frédéric Jiguet, and ornithologist and director of the French Office for Biodiversity in Centre-Val-de-Loire, Jean-Noël Rieffel.

Friday, September 26 at 6:30 PM
Free, by reservation.


Olfactory Design: Back to the Future?"

Alexis Foiny – Retrouver la trace d’une fleur disparue, ADAGP Paris © Pauline Assathiany

TALK

Olfactory Design: Back to the Future?

In conjunction with the exhibition Memo. Remembering the Futures and on the occasion of Paris Design Week, the Fondation Martell and Nez magazine are organizing the talk “Olfactory Design: Back to the Future?”

The sense of smell, a quintessential sense of memory and a vector of ecological sensitivity, has a special role to play in the Anthropocene era. This round table brings together designer Alexis Foiny alongside Sandra Barré (art critic, exhibition curator, and researcher), Clara Muller (art history researcher and independent exhibition curator), and Margaux Le Paih Guérin (perfumer) to discuss how scents and perfumes are powerful mediums, capable of inviting us to forge a new relationship with the living world, stimulating our reflection… and encouraging us to act for the future.

Friday, September 5 at 5 PM

Auditorium Patrick Ricard – 5 Cours Paul Ricard, 75008 Paris

Free admission


European Heritage Days 2025

European Heritage Days

September  20 and 21, 2025

Book here

Wood Workshop for Young Audience
Saturday, September 20, 10:00 AM – 12:30 PM

Each child, accompanied by cabinetmaker Mathias Heinisch, will create a bird feeder from maple wood and learn to use traditional tools (spokeshave, plane, scraper).

Information: €45/child. By reservation. Workshop for young audiences aged 8 and up. Children must be accompanied by an adult.
Reservations by email[email protected]

 

Guided Tour
Saturday, September 20, 11 AM – 12:30 PM
The “Grand Tour,” a guided tour of the two exhibitions Memo. Rembering the Futures  and Hors Saison.

 

Glass Workshop – Glassblowing Demonstrations
Afternoon 2:30 PM – 3:30 PM – 4:30 PM

At the Foundation workshops, meet glass artisans Valentin Rizzo and Gaëtan Oheix for glassblowing demonstrations (30 min).
Maximum 20 people per demonstration.

 

Workshop “The Imprint, Its Gesture and Material”
Saturday, September 20, 2 PM

Artist Mathias Mareschal and paleobotanist Léa de Brito will start a discussion about the landscape as a meeting place between forces and materials, its memory, and its preservation through the imprint.

Free, by reservation.

 

3D Workshop
Saturday, September 20, 2 PM

Creative workshop led by students from DNMADE Charles Coulomb (Angoulême) around the Poker Design method and demonstrations and experiments in 3D printing. Based on the works of Alexis Foiny, plant elements will be printed to create a 3D archaeology of the present for the future.

Free, by reservation.

 

Paleo-Imprints Workshop
Saturday, September 20, 3 PM

Collective molding workshop at the Foundation’s ceramic workshop with artist Mathias Mareschal and paleobotanist Léa de Brito. In collaboration with PaléoCharente.

Open to everyone aged 7 and up.

Free, by reservation.

 

Guided Tours
Saturday, September 20
4 PM – 5 PM: Memo. Souvenirs du futur
6 PM – 6:30 PM: Hors Saison

Free, by reservation.

 

The “Learning to See” Visit
Sunday, September 21 at 2:30 PM

Come and discover the mobile trunk created by the Museum of Decorative Arts and Design of Bordeaux, which, through a selection of about thirty anonymous or iconic objects, offers an introduction to design. A pedagogical kit that invokes imagination, experience, and observation skills to discover and implement new processes, new ways of acting, and creating connections.
In partnership with madd-bordeaux.

Free, by reservation.

 

The Sensory Tour
Sunday, September 21 at 4 PM

A tour “beyond sight” to explore the exhibition by engaging your senses with the mediation kit specially designed by students from the DNMADE program at Lycée Charles Coulomb in Angoulême. Let the hunt for artworks begin!

Free, by reservation


Memo. Remembering the Futures

Top to bottom
Daybed with Monarch Butterflies © Fernando Laposse
Into the Mountain, 2019, Photo © Felicity Crawshaw, Courtesy – Simon Kenyon
Tuvalu – The First Digital Nation & Rebirth – Trauma as a performative process
Carribean Beauties © Pauline Assathiany
Los grillos des sueño © Pauline Assathiany
Metamophosis of a Herd © Pauline Assathiany

Memo. Remembering the Futures

June 13, 2025 - January 4, 2026

Collective exhibition with: Félix Blume (France), Emma Bruschi (France), Liselot Cobelens (Netherlands), Collider x The Monkeys (Australia),  dach&zephir (France), Roberta Di Cosmo (Italy), Cian Dayrit & Cla Ruzol (The Philippines),  Alexis Foiny (France), Suzanne Husky (France / USA), Simone Kenyon & Lucy Cash (United Kingdom), Fernando Laposse (Mexico), Sally Ann McIntyre (New-Zealand), Neve Insular (Cabo Verde) , Bubu Ogisi / I A M I S I G O (Nigeria),  Yesenia Thibault-Picazo (France),

Concept & Curatorship: d-o-t-s (Laura Drouet & Olivier Lacrouts)
Scenography: Olivier Vadrot
Graphic Design: WIP office
Co-produced with CID Grand-Hornu, Belgium

The exhibition Memo. Remembering the Futures showcases the work of European and non-Western artists and designers, questioning the impact of human activities on ecosystems through the lens of memory.

This project, curated by Laura Drouet and Olivier Lacrouts (d-o-t-s), was inspired by the paradoxical announcement at COP27 by the government of Tuvalu (Oceania) to fully digitize the country to preserve its memory and culture. Facing submersion by 2050 due to rising sea levels, Tuvalu is set to become the world’s first digital nation.

By documenting and interpreting ongoing anthropic perturbations, these 15 projects offer various responses to counteract the modification and loss of landscapes, biotopes, and species, which are integral to our sensorial and gestural memory, and thus our humanity.

This exploration of different ways to preserve traces of disappearing cultures and safeguard multispecific memories unfolds through multisensory installations (involving scents, sounds, performances, etc.) and archive materials. These works act as memory triggers, encouraging us to remember and, more importantly, to act.

From left to right
Rebirth – Trauma as a performative process – Roberta Di Cosmo
Dryland – Liselot Cobelens
To Block the Flow of a River is to Reject the Wisdom of the Earth – Cian Dayrit
100% Cotton – Neve Insular
Tant que les fleurs existeronf encore – Alexis Foiny
Resting Place – Fernando Laposse
IAMSIGO – Collection printemps-été 2024 – Bubu Ogisi
Almanach Collection – Emma Bruschi
© Pauline Assathiany


Hors Saison - Pablo Bras

Photo credits : Pablo Bras, ADAGP Paris © Pauline Assathiany

HORS SAISON

Pablo Bras

June 13, 2025 - January 4, 2026

Presskit

Emerging from a residency period at the Foundation, the Hors Saison exhibition is a carte blanche for designer Pablo Bras. A circular exploration of the phenomena at play, this project questions the ability of design to organize the invisible flows of air, light, and thermal energy to become tangible design materials, both at the scale of the object and the habitat.

Channeling the thermal and energetic forces of the exhibition space, the designer presents an arrangement of pieces that create a fluid environment responsive to the three seasons his installation will traverse.

Through architectural gestures aimed at making the atmospheric qualities of the space perceptible according to the seasons and our needs, the project invites us to feel temperature variations through systems of air currents, ventilation, and simple heating and cooling techniques.

Open and reproducible, the objects scattered throughout the space interact within a dynamic flow, thus recreating micro-climates. A project that encourages questioning the ecology of place and the modalities of our comfort.

Guest curator: Olivier Zeitoun

Born in 1994, Pablo Bras has been conducting research for several years focused on natural and artificial phenomena within habitats, revolving around the question of energy. Winner of the Agora for Design Research in 2019, he curated and co-designed the French Pavilion at the 23rd Milan Design Triennial in 2022, alongside Romain Guillet and Juliette Gelli.

Olivier Zeitoun is a conservation officer in the Design department at the Musée National d’Art Moderne/Centre Pompidou. He co-curated the exhibitions «La Fabrique du Vivant» (2019), «Réseaux-Mondes» (2022), and «Mimésis, un design vivant» (Centre Pompidou-Metz, 2022) at the Centre Pompidou with Marie-Ange Brayer, and co-edited the accompanying catalogs. He holds degrees in philosophy, art history, and social sciences, and is the author of articles and essays that cross disciplines, addressing issues related to the fields of art and design. In parallel, he continues his activities in curating, teaching, research, and publishing as an independent curator international partners..


European Artistic Crafts Days 2025

Photo Credits : Gaëtan Oheix, Valentin Rizzo & Laetitia Lavalette

European Artistic Crafts Days

Open Doors

Saturday, April 5
2pm – 6pm

Book here

On the occasion of the European Artistic Crafts Days, the Foundation opens its doors to you for an immersion into the world of artisans. Dive into the fascinating universe of the glass workshop, where you can attend captivating demonstrations of glassmaking techniques. Explore our workshop and meet our glass artisans, Gaëtan Oheix and Valentin Rizzo, who will unveil the magic of molten glass and the ancestral know-how behind each creation.

Continue your discovery with the wood workshop and the cabinetmaker Mathias Heinisch, where you will witness demonstrations of sawing and work at the shaving horse. You will have the opportunity to discover a selection of objects and tools, as well as the different types of wood used.

Don’t miss this opportunity to meet passionate artisans and discover exceptional crafts.


Lecture "Artists and craft"

Copyright : Ron Nagle

Artists and craft

Lecture by Anne Dressen

Thursday, January 16, 2025
Free Admission

Book here

Anne Dressen, art historian, exhibition curator in the contemporary department of the Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, and contributor to the exhibition JB Blunk – Continuum, will discuss the relationship that many artists – like JB Blunk – have with craft (textiles, jewelry, ceramics, etc.); this will be an opportunity for her to revisit a trilogy of exhibitions held at the Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris and present her ongoing research, which aims to envision an inclusive and reflective museum of plural arts.


Special event : Millennial Trees - From California to Charente

Copyright : Paléocharente

Millennial Trees
From California to Charente

Special event

Saturday, January 25, 2025
Free admission

Book here

The Fondation will exclusively unveil the casting of the giant fossilized tree discovered at the Angeac-Charente paleontological site. This site, located in the Grand Cognac region (Nouvelle-Aquitaine), is one of the most important in Europe, particularly renowned for its exceptional discoveries, including the remains of one of the largest dinosaurs ever uncovered. The research is led by both professional and amateur scientists, organized under the association “Paléocharente.”

This unprecedented presentation takes place as part of a special event day organized by the Foundation on the theme of millennial trees, within the exhibition Continuum – JB Blunk, which will be exceptionally reopened for the occasion.

The public will be invited to rediscover the wooden sculptures of the American artist JB Blunk (1926-2002)—a legendary sculptor who drew inspiration from nature—and to admire the full-scale casting of the fossilized tree discovered in 2023 at the Angeac-Charente paleontological site near Angoulême.

This nearly 15-meter-long millennial tree, dating back 140 million years, will interact with Blunk’s works, which were made from remains of sequoias originating from Northern California, where he lived.

At 3 p.m., paleobotanist Léa de Brito and paleontologist Jean-François Tournepiche will engage in a discussion about fossils and what they reveal about environmental changes, the preservation of living heritage, and the contemporary challenges facing our forest ecosystems.

From 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.: Self-guided visits
At 11 a.m. and 5 p.m.: Guided tours with a cultural mediator (duration: 1 hour)
At 3 p.m.: Lecture by Léa de Brito (researcher in paleobotany at the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle in Paris) and Jean-François Tournepiche (paleontologist)

On this occasion, Le Texte Libre will present a selection of books for children and adults on the theme of forests at the Foundation’s bookstore.

Léa de Brito
Temporary teaching and research associate (ATER) at the MNHN (Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle) within the Paleontology Research Center in Paris (CR2P), holding a PhD in Science from the University of Liège. She is a paleobotanist, specializing in the study of fossil conifers from the Mesozoic era.

Jean-François Tournepiche
Honorary Chief Curator of Heritage, he served at the Angoulême Museum for nearly 40 years and co-leads the Angeac-Charente project within the “Paléocharente” association.

A geologist and paleontologist by training, he became a curator at the Angoulême Museum in 1986. Specializing in the study of Quaternary mammals, he has discovered and directed excavations at dozens of sites in Charente for the past 50 years. This scientific work has been complemented by efforts to promote this heritage through exhibitions, books, educational activities, and lectures. After the discovery of the Angeac-Charente site, he established a research, conservation, and valorization project for the site, leading a team organized under the “Paléocharente” association.