César Giron
President
As a cultural institution, the Fondation d’entreprise Martell is a point of convergence. More than ever, this place located in the heart of Cognac, dedicated to visitors and creators is a space where one can breathe as much as escape.
The Ateliers du faire (production workshops) are what make the Fondation a unique cultural ecosystem imagined in 2016. Equipped with state-of-the-art machines and tools, they enable designers, researchers, artists and artisans in residence to carry out their research or production project. This is the best way for this former plant to convey the industrial past of a building, already designed in 1928 as a production tool.
With a committed program, we are pursuing our vocation of nurturing our audiences and sharing the issues related to the challenges of our time in this period of change and transition.
Anne-Claire Duprat
Director
After having celebrated its 5th anniversary last year, the Fondation d’entreprise Martell opens a new chapter in 2023; it confirms its commitment to creators and evolves to meet the challenge of the century: ecological transition.
Convinced that art and design are essential levers of transformation in society, and in particular to create new imaginaries and new representation forms, the Fondation d’entreprise Martell is evolving to become a professional platform for research and experimentation as well as a public venue for raising awareness and educating people about living things.
Resolutely turned towards the future, its program of exhibitions, residencies, conferences and workshops will therefore give priority to supporting innovative projects with a regenerative dimension.
Our ambition is to become a springboard for a new generation of committed creators and researchers: this “Factory of Transitions” with a universal vocation will aim to open new paths to build a resilient and sustainable future. Eager to contribute to produce and transmit knowledge and expertise, the Fondation will make all its resources available to promote the emergence of new critical and practical tools, paving new ways towards a desirable future.
The Fondation, a tool for the community, will offer a wider access to the Ateliers du Faire, whether to welcome more residents over longer periods of time, or to offer introductory workshops for our visitors of all ages. The Fondation will also initiate new formats presenting the artists research in the form of pop-up installations starting in March. In June, it will inaugurate a new cycle of exhibitions: retrospective, thematic, monographic or collective, and always forward-looking.
In a dynamic of collective intelligence, future projects will encourage reflection on local resources and the hybridization of vernacular know-how in a territory that articulates many ultra-contemporary questions with a global dimension. Working in collaboration with our local, national and international partners will be a fundamental modus operandi to allow us to establish new common horizons.
Finally, the Fondation will kick-off several major structural projects in 2023: it will establish a map of the local territory identifying its assets, resources and needs, so as to initiate new dialogues between local actors and designers.
The Fondation wishes to become a real artistic and energy factory: it will engage in a study of decarbonization of its building in order to minimize its impact thanks to design, in particular by using solar energy, so abundant in Cognac.
We look forward to welcoming you within our walls to share these new milestones in an emblematic place that we want more than ever to be open and accessible to all!