“Greffe d’Ouvert”

The CAC Brétigny reveals its program for the new season, welcoming its new director Marion Vasseur Raluy with her project titled “Greffe d’Ouvert”—a term borrowed from institutional psychotherapy which allows one to imagine the institution as a place where other thoughts, people, and working methods can be transplanted into its structure to change how the institution is conceived. For the 2025–2026 season, the CAC Brétigny will initiate these reflections through an off-site program of exhibitions, events, and residencies in various spaces due to ongoing renovations at the art center’s primary exhibition space. 

January 17–March 14, 2026 
Lettres du quotidien—Extraits, débuts, jeux, traces,
by Malak El Zanaty Varichon and Mona Varichon
Curated by: Marion Vasseur Raluy (Director)
Espace de la Croix-Louis, Brétigny-sur-Orge

Lettres du quotidien—Extraits, débuts, jeux, traces is an exhibition which invites visitors to discover the works of artists Malak El Zanaty Varichon and her daughter Mona Varichon. The exhibition gathers a large body of works created by the two artists at different points of their lives between 1996 and 2025. Their practices draw from the conversations and shared experiences of their familial and everyday lives.

As an art instructor since the early 1990s, Malak has worked primarily at the Children’s Workshop of the Centre Pompidou as well as schools and care facilities in Paris and the surrounding area. Alongside her work and daily life over the past forty years, she created collages, photographs, paintings and assemblages. This exhibition at the CAC Brétigny marks the first time that Malak presents her work in a public French institution.

During her art studies in the United States, Mona worked as an archivist for contemporary artists. She subsequently decided to integrate this practice into both her mother’s work and her own. Although they lived far away, Mona also began recording their phone calls which would go on to become the material for her first films.

Together, Malak and Mona blur the lines between amateur and professional, between intimate space and public space, and between the art world and personal interpretation.

April 11–May 30, 2026
Le Show d’Houdini
Curated by: Marion Vasseur Raluy (Director) 
With: Romain Best, Guendalina Cerruti, Grichka Commaret, Audrey Couppé de Kermadec, Anders Dickson, Adrien Genty, Lucas Erin and Hatice Pinarbişi
Scientific Committee: Jonathan Naas, Zoé Théval / Scenography: Guendalina Cerruti
La Ferme, Marolles-en-Hurepoix

Magicians are omnipresent in contemporary culture. From Hollywood films to cartoons, they are an ambivalent figure, capable of both good and bad, between trickery and miracle. As this character fascinates children and adolescents alike, its duality seems particularly illuminating in a time when it is increasingly difficult to distinguish what is real and fake.

Harry Houdini, renowned magician of the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries, is known for his spectacular tricks. Bound together by chains, he would place himself in locked crates filled with water and would always manage to free himself. Houdini would also stand in opposition to spiritualists, often ready to unmask the illusions of those who claim to conjure ghosts. With this fascinating figure as a starting point, the exhibition explores the complex dimensions of magic through contemporary artistic practices.

The scenography, created by artist Guendalina Cerruti, is an entrance point to a universe of other artists who imbue their works with magic. With an eclectic selection of installations, paintings, and sculptures, the visitor is invited to interrogate the place of magic in our societies.

May 22–23, 2026
Festival
Curated by: Milène Denécheau, Elisa Klein, Coraline Perrin and Marion Vasseur Raluy. In close collaboration with the Théâtre Brétigny
With: Anaïs Fontanges and Matteo Louisy (Multiplato), Compagnie Index, Diane Gaignoux, Lucía García Pullés, Haonan He, Zoe Heselton, Jonathan Naas, Talita Otović, Zoé Théval
La Ferme, Marolles-en-Hurepoix

The CAC Brétigny inaugurates a new transdisciplinary “Festival” which deviates from the typical format of an exhibition and transforms the venues it inhabits into sites for experimental performances. For this first edition, the artists question magic and illusions with a critical and poetic lens. Over the course of two days, the program consists of round table discussions, performances, installations, concerts, and magic shows.

2025–2026
Residency program
Curated by: Milène Denécheau, Coraline Perrin and Marion Vasseur Raluy
Across the entire area of Cœur d’Essonne Agglomération

The CAC Brétigny’s residency program is developed in close collaboration with the mediation team, Milène Denécheau and Coraline Perrin, who will curate four of the upcoming residencies. Coraline Perrin invites Talita Otović to imagine a sound installation for young children, up to three years old and Valentine Gardiennet to illustrate stories with primary school students. Milène Denécheau invites Charlotte Attal to explore languages and graphic design with primary school students, as well as Fanny Spano to think about the local area through the lens of food. Muhammad El Zaqzook, invited as part of the “Greffe d’Ouvert” residencies, will write poetry about the region by meeting with local associations. Finally, Martha Salimbeni, graphic designer and artist-in-residence will visit churches and cemeteries around the art center to imagine a graphic identity that corresponds to the history of the local area.

Enquiries/press office: Venise Bernard, info@cacbretigny.com

The CAC Brétigny is a cultural establishment of Cœur d’Essonne Agglomération. Labeled as a Contemporary Art Center of National Interest, it benefits from the support of the Ministère de la Culture—DRAC Île-de-France, Région Île-de-France and Conseil départemental de l’Essonne. The CAC Brétigny is a member of DCA, TRAM and BLA!.