The Fondation d’entreprise Martell is pleased to partner with ENSAD Paris (National school of decorative arts) for the second edition of the Biennale du Vivant. It will host the designer duo Shanna Warocquier and Alice Ponty, graduates of 2024, for a research and production residency, the results of which will be presented in Paris in September 2025 as part of the Biennale.

The duo’s project focuses on hair, the messenger of our DNA, a bodily fragment that exists in “this strange zone where something inert turns out to be alive.” Through the biological dimension of hair, Shanna and Alice aim to propose a living archive that combines the imagery of a cabinet of curiosities with the everyday objects of a hairdresser. Through its social dimension, they seek to build a memorial to the absent, a memorial addressed to those we no longer are and those we carry without realizing it, like hair found in the weave of a sweater or the wool of a coat.