Le Futur Commence Ici (The Future Begins Here): Inaugural exhibition of the Frac Nord-Pas De Calais
16 November 2013–27 April 2014
Frac Nord-Pas de Calais
503 Avenue des Bancs de Flandres
59140 Dunkerque/ Dunkirk
France
Hours: Wednesday–Sunday noon–6pm,
during school vacations and bank holidays,
closed 25 December and 1 January
Free entrance
T +33 (0) 3 28 65 84 20
Curator: Hilde Teerlinck
On 16 November 2013, the Frac Nord-Pas de Calais opened a new building designed by the French architects Lacaton & Vassal. This exceptional project is the jewel case in which the first exhibition by Frac Nord-Pas de Calais in its new building is set, where visitors will be plunged into its collection.
Together, the spaces in the Frac/AP2—passageways, exhibition galleries, outreach spaces, indoors and out—are also the pretext for the presentation of projects and installations, in some cases produced especially for the occasion. Matthew Darbyshire is taking over the Salon, providing visitors with a space of relaxation and discovery; Otto Berchem questions visitors about the Frac’s collection; Rainier Lericolais invites them on an audio promenade between the LAAC and the Frac, a veritable poetic ramble and free interpretation of the region’s history; and Angela Bulloch uses the wind to light up the AP2 hangar. Even the Frac’s café became a work of art in its own right thanks to the Swiss artistic duo Lang/Baumann.
The inaugural exhibition The Future Begins Here is an opportunity for visitors to discover the Frac Nord-Pas de Calais’ collection. This collection, which joins contemporary art and design, includes more than 1,500 works acquired since the 1980s and mixes works by major artists with others by young talents. This exhibition takes place throughout the entire Frac/AP2 building. Each space presents a theme or group of works found in the collection: videos, the relation between art and design, participative works. Visitors will discover at every turn—in a corridor, a salon, an exhibition gallery—a true survey of contemporary art of these past thirty years.
How to get to the Frac/AP2.
Support for FRAC Nord-Pas de Calais comes from the Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication/Direction générale de la création artistique, the Direction régionale des affaires culturelles Nord-Pas de Calais, the Conseil Régional Nord-Pas de Calais, the Dunkerque Grand Littoral/Communauté urbaine, the Ville de Dunkerque, the Conseil Général du Nord, the Conseil Général du Pas-de-Calais and the Rectorat de l’Académie de Lille.
