16/01/2002
by Ann Landi

On the 21^st of January, Paris’s first museum devoted solely to contemporary art and emerging artists will open in the newly refurbished, 65-year-old Palais de Tokyo. It is located in the same government-owned building that once was home to the Musee National d’Art Moderne, before that institution moved to its current home at the Pompidou Centre. The opening of the new Palais de Tokyo signifies what might be an injection of fresh energy into the Parisian contemporary art market, which is rapidly gaining momentum and grabbing the attention of the press and collectors alike. The museum’s choice of contemporary artists to be exhibited gives an institutional stamp of approval and provides upside potential for the artists’ market value, even for those artists who would otherwise have had to wait years or decades for widespread recognition by French museums.

In 1999, France’s Ministry of Culture and Communication initiated the Palais de Tokyo Project, with the general aim of "closing the gap between the broad public and contemporary arts," as spelt out in a mission statement. The museum, officially founded a year later, is financed by an annual subsidy of $ 1,410,000 (€ 1,600,700) provided by the Fine Arts Delegation of the Ministry of Culture and Communication, as well as by private funds (the museum is continually on the lookout for donors).

The museum simply goes by the name of the building, the Palais de Tokyo that was renovated at a cost of $ 3,356,900 (€ 3,811,200). It encompasses 4,000 square meters of industrial-style exhibition space designed without a single interior wall. The openness of the new space sets the tone of the new, non-profit institution. As co-director Nicolas Bourriaud (with Jérôme Sans) says, the Palais de Tokyo is considered "an open platform for artists to express themselves," and the rather unconventional programs include regular "salons" hosted by artists underneath the building’s main staircase. Artists selected to exhibit in the galleries range from well known-names, such as the recognized installation artist Gabriel Orozco, to those who are largely unknown, such as media artist Charlotte Beaurepaire. Beaurepaire is one of seven young artists aged between twenty-five and thirty who were selected, along with one emerging curator, from over 270 applicants to create their own, original projects at the Palais de Tokyo in November 2001, two months before the building opened its doors. "These artists were invited here to work in the eye of the storm," comments Bourriaud.

Critics of the new museum, however, heve been quick to point out that the exhibition of the work of living and younger artists is not a novelty, nor is commissioning new work for such an exhibition. In fact, major modern art museums such as The Museum of Modern Art in New York, for example, host exhibtions such as its Projects series, in which youthful, non-brand-name artists are given shows of newly commissioned work. What will set the Palais de Tokyo apart from these other, more established institutions that also offer a high-profile forum for an emerging artist? One answer may simply be its odd hours: the museum is open only from noon to midnight. But another answer is that the Palais de Tokyo actually attempts to question what it means to be a museum today – in essence, provocatively doubting its own identity. Last year, the fledgling museum published What Do You Expect from and Art Institution in the 21^st Century?, a bi-lingual (English and French) book that included 280 responses from the likes of popular contemporary artist Maurzio Cattelan, who responded, appropriately, with "a revolution". As Bourriaud explains, "We are trying to open a debate in the arts that is as wide as possible". And, in the process, the Palais de Tokyo is gaining much attention for its irreverent attitude – which undoubtedly will attract more attention to the artists featured, thus instantly increasing their quotes by association.