A curatorial machine
An exhibition tower composed of two superimposed mobile floors is inserted into the building’s courtyard. The floors (around 100m2 each) can move vertically along the metallic structure and split into two equal parts creating an interplay of four mobile platforms. Thanks to their onboard motors, the platforms can move independently along the rails and can be positioned alongside existing floors. Accessible from the existing building through openings onto the courtyard, these new exhibition areas articulate and complete the current space. Their combination offers a new curatorial dimension to the building by complementing its more traditional spaces.
 
This exhibition machine completes the other fundamental component of the Fondation: its production centre situated in the basement, where work can be created by invited artists. The simultaneous use of these two features will allow the creation of unique work, conceived for a configuration of the appropriate exhibition.

OMA and machines
In the past, OMA has developed machines whose function is integral to the buildings housing them.
In the maison Lemoine in Bordeaux, a hydraulic platform moves freely between floors, and becomes a room within itself. The Wyly Theater in Dallas is constructed around retractable mobile platforms which have as many configurations as possible uses for the scenic space.
 
9 rue du Plâtre
Built for Xavier Ruel’s BHV in 1891 by the architect Samuel Mejot de Dammartin, 9 rue du Plâtre is an industrial building with an elegant façade. First used as a warehouse, it went on to serve as a dispensary, a girls’ school and more recently a preparatory school. Its current state reflects the number of transformations it has witnessed. Unfortunately, first-person accounts of this building were destroyed in the BHV archive fire.

OPENING
AUTUMN 2017
Rem Koolhaas and OMA
Rem Koolhaas (1944) founded OMA in 1975 together with Elia and Zoe Zenghelis and Madelon Vriesendorp. In 2000, he won the Pritzker Architecture Prize. In 2014, he curated the 14th Venice Biennale of Architecture, entitled “Fundamentals”. Before turning to architecture, Koolhaas began working as a journalist and screenwriter; writing has remained central to his architectural practice.

He is the author of several noteworthy publications, including: Delirious New York
(1978) and S,M,L,XL (1995), a 1,200-page synthesis of OMA’s work. As director of the City research program at Harvard University, Koolhaas published The Harvard Guide to Shopping (2001), an analysis of the role of retail and consumption in society and architecture, and Great Leap Forward (2002), a study of China’s Pearl River Delta; he also produced studies on Lagos, Roman architecture and communism.

OMA
Recently completed OMA buildings include De Rotterdam, three interconnected towers on the river Maas; Shenzhen Stock Exchange; the GStar headquarters in Amsterdam; the new headquarters for China Central Television (CCTV)—a tower constructed as a loop—in Beijing; new headquarters for the Rothschild Bank in London; and Milstein Hall, an elevated platform that extends Cornell’s college of Architecture, Art and Planning in New York.
Other OMA-designed buildings currently under construction include the Taipei Performing Arts Centre (Taiwan); three buildings in Doha (Qatar); the Bibliothèque Multimédia, a four-story public library in Caen; and Bryghusprojektet in Copenhagen, a mixed-use project accommodating the new headquarters of the Danish Architecture Centre.

AMO
Simultaneously to working with OMA on projects conducted around the world, Koolhaas has dedicated himself since 1998 to the study of nonarchitectural realms, such as politics, publishing, media, fashion and sociology, in the framework of his think-tank, AMO. Recent AMO projects include research in the Russian countryside; the design of catwalk shows for Prada and Miu Miu; “Cronocaos”, an exhibit on preservation presented during the 2010 Venice Biennale; participation in the EU Reflection Group think tank with the task of making proposals for Europe in 2020;
Roadmap 2050, a masterplan for a Europe-wide renewable energy grid; and the development of an educational program for Strelka, a new architecture school in Moscow. Furthermore, AMO is guest editor of Wired magazine, and was asked to consult for Conde Nast on the future of the group’s magazines. AMO has proposed a “barcode” EU flag and even developed a curatorial masterplan for the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg.

ARCHITECTURAL PROJECT
Launched in October 2013 to accompany Lafayette Anticipation – Fondation
d'entreprise Galeries Lafayette’s architectural, curatorial and institutional project, the preopening programme will continue for the duration of the refurbishment of 9 rue du Plâtre. The pre-opening programme fits in the local reality of the Marais district in Paris, as well as in a context of international cooperation. It supports Lafayette Anticipation’s evolving identity through commissions, workshops, partnerships and direct support for production.
 
From October 2013 to July 2014, Lafayette Anticipation occupied 9 rue du Plâtre prior to the building’s renovation. The Fondation then moved into a temporary space adjoining the building site, from which are developed a large number of projects in partnership with the Centre Pompidou, MoMA PS1, Kunsthalle Basel, Performa and even the New Museum in New York.

The pre-opening programme presents itself as a vehicle for forms and thoughts that test the evolving scales of action of the emerging institution.
 

PRE-OPENING PROGRAMME
Petrit Halilaj, July 14th – Exhibit
October 24 – 27, 2013, presented during FIAC –
9 rue du Plâtre
Petrit Halilaj’s exhibit is inspired by the rediscovery of treasures buried in the Pristina Natural History Museum (Kosovo). This popular ex-Yugoslavian institution detains an incredible collection of taxidermy animals. However, this collection was withheld underground, condemned to be forgotten and to rot, and instead replaced by the presentation of national folklore.

Pierre Leguillon, Dubuffet Typographe –
Exhibit
December 11 – 14, 2013 – 9 rue du Plâtre
Inspired by Jean Dubuffet’s work, Pierre Leguillon examines the future of writing in a digital age which progressively delegitimizes the written word.
In partnership with the Fondation Dubuffet, the Fonds de dotation Famille Moulin, the Fondation Nationale des Arts Graphiques et Plastiques, the Cnap (for publishing assistance), Art 3 and (SIC) Éditions.

Saâdane Afif, Noir c’est Noir – Production
Autumn 2013
First edition by artist Saâdane Afif, produced by Lafayette Anticipation with BIC. To mark the inauguration of Lafayette Anticipation in 2013, Saâdane Afif distorted the emblematic 4 color BIC penTM: produced in a limited edition, Noir c’est Noir writes in only one color, black.
2014

Simon Fujowara, New Pompidou –
Production and performance
February 14, 2014 – Nouveau festival
Simon Fujiwara presents his personal vision of a twin for the Centre Pompidou, embodied by a unique piece and carried to the actual museum during a solemn procession. The piece is presented during the exhibit ALLÉGORIES D’OUBLI, within the context of the 5th edition of the Centre Pompidou’s Nouveau festival.

Olaf Nicolai, Speculation about two unidentified objects – Production and
performance
March 7 – 8, 2014 – Nouveau festival
Piece presented for the 5th edition of the Centre Pompidou’s Nouveau festival. With the participation of Bryan Campbell (dancer), Truike van der Poel (soloist), Leonardo Ortega (singer), Silvia Lenzi (cellist), Kerwin Rolland (engineer and composer), Arthur Dreyfus (author), Till Gathmann et Helmut Völter (graphic designer)

Pleasure Principles – Residency, production and exhibit, directed by Paul Kneale and Raphael Hefti
February 17 – March 29, 2014 – 9 rue du Plâtre
Artists Paul Kneale and Raphael Hefti bring to Paris the “Library +” model and network, originally a London-based space for collaborative creation, co-directed with Megan Rooney. With the participation of Megan Rooney, Harry Burke, Max Brand, Bonny Poon, Bea Schlingelhoff, Quinn Latimer, Jesse Wine, Sam Porritt, Anne Imhof, Veit Laurent Kurz, Thomas Lawson and Anna-Susanna Woof-Dwight.

Compagnie MUA, Emanticipation, un laboratoire – Production, workshop and performance
March 21 – March 22, 2014 – 9 rue du Plâtre
Project conducted under the direction of
Emmanuelle Huynh. Six day lab, gathering “essayists” and artists invited to discuss openly new production and conception techniques. With Katerina Andreou, Volmir Cordeiro, Anna Gaïotti, Anne Lise Le Gac from “Essais”, as well as Richard John Jones and Pauline Le Boulba. Anja Aronowsky Cronberg & Vestoj,

The Vestoj Storytelling Salon – Production and performance
April 5, 2014 – 9 rue du Plâtre
On material memories. With Jean-Charles de Castelbajac, Frances Corner, Simon Costin, Vincent Darré, Michèle Lamy, Ingmari Lamy and Irene Silvagni.
 
Venir Voir Venir - Exhibit
July 3 – 6, 2014 – 9 rue du Plâtre
Presentation of the architectural project and projects led during the final months of the preopening programme, with the participation of
Pierre Giner. Jerszy Seymour, New Dirty Enterprises: The First Annual Report, Dialogue is not possible – Residency and production
 
November – December 12, 2014 – Garage Mu
An “Opera Non-Opera” performed at Garage Mu (Paris).With Yanik Balzer, Veronika Bjarsch, Travis Broussard, Victor Delestre, David
Kaltenbach, Olivier Lellouche, Kerwin Rolland and Jerszy Seymour.
 
2015
Editathon Art+Feminism
– Workshop
March 7 – 8, 2015 – Hub Lafayette Anticipation
A Wikipedia writing marathon to promote women, feminisms and culture, organised by Mikaela Assolent and Flora Katz, produced by Lafayette Anticipation – Fondation d’entreprise Galeries Lafayette, in partnership with Wikimédia France and the Bibliothèque publique d’information.

Anja Aronowsky Cronberg and Vestoj,
The Vestoj Salon, On Slowness –
Production
January 27, 2015 – Ekimetrics
A performance about fashion and slowness. With Scarlett Rouge Newton, Lola Peploe and Nick Haughton. Scenography by David Myron.
Anja Aronowsky Cronberg and Vestoj, The Vestoj Storytelling Salon – Production
March 29, 2015 – MoMA PS1 New York edition of The Vestoj Storytelling
Salon, produced by Lafayette Anticipation and presented at MoMA PS1. Presented for the first time April 5, 2014 at Lafayette Anticipation in Paris. With Pat Cleveland, Glenn O’Brien, Mary McFadden, Andre Walker, Candy Pratts Price and Dapper Dan of Harlem.

Ulla von Brandenburg, Baisse-toi
Montagne, Lève-toi Vallon – Production
March 18 – 19, 2015 – Kaaitheater (Brussels)
A theatre performance, revitalising the spirit of Saint-Simonianism. Performed for the first time at the Kaaitheater in Brussels March 18th and 19th, 2015. Piece commissioned for the “Nouveaux Commanditaires” project led by the Fondation de France. Piece produced by Lafayette Anticipation, with the support of the Fondation de France.

Christodoulos Panayiotou, Two Days
After Forever – Production support
May 9 – November 22, 2015 – Venice Biennale
Production of Christodoulos Panayiotou’s piece, Two Days After Forever, examining tradition, authorship and authenticity. Presented in the Cyprus Pavilion (Palazzo Malipiero) of the Venice Biennale.

Saâdane Afif, The Laguna’s Tribute –
Production support
May 9 – November 22, 2015 – Venice Biennale
Production support for Saâdane Afif’s piece presented during the 56th Venice Biennale, All the World’s Futures Saâdane Afif, Au Hasard Balthazar – Production May 9, 2015
Second limited edition conceived by artist Saâdane Afif and produced by Lafayette
Anticipation in partnership with BIC. Anicka Yi, 7,070,430K of Digital Spit, A Memoir – Production June 11 – August 16, 2015 – Kunsthalle Basel
Production of a book-sculpture made with incense paper and presented at Kunsthalle Basel for the artist’s solo-exhibit 7,070,430K of Digital Spit in June 2015.

Performa 15 – Partnership
November 4 – 15, 2015 – Performa
Lafayette Anticipation partners with Performa for a series of performances and screenings throughout the biennale held in New York City.
Featured pieces by Pauline Curnier Jardin, Ulla von Brandenburg, Volmir Cordeiro, Simon Fujiwara, Christodoulos Panayiotou and Erika Vogt.

Ulla von Brandenburg, Sink Down
Mountain, Rise Up Valley – Touring
January 30 – 31, 2016 – Common Guild Glasgow
Two new performances of the piece at the Common Guild in Glasgow, produced for the Nouveaux Commanditaires project and coproduced by the Fonds de dotation Famille Moulin.

Caecilia Tripp, Scoring the Black Hole –
Performance
January 13, 2016 – Le Crédac
Piece stemming from the performance presented during the exhibit “Going Space” at
Le Crédac from January 15 – March 20, 2016.

Editathon Art+Feminism – Workshop
March 5 – 6, 2016 – Archives nationales, Paris
A second edition of the international writing marathon, prefaced by the workshops “The Present of Our Knowledge”, was held at the Archives nationales. Three discussions moderated by invited participants, focusing on gender inequality in the production and diffusion of knowledge, in art and on the Web.

Cally Spooner, On False Tears and
Outsourcing – Co-production
April 27 – June 19, 2016 – New Museum
Lafayette Anticipation supports this exhibit held at the New Museum in New York City. For her first solo show in the United States, Cally Spooner creates an installation in which dancers perform a choreography inspired by contact sports such as rugby, as well as by management strategies and filmic romance.
 
Les Prolégomènes
October 3 – 4, 2013 – 9 rue du Plâtre
Les Prolégomènes are the first series of events organized by Lafayette Anticipation. A select group of participants discuss over the course of these two days the conditions of contemporary creation, with regard to production techniques, aesthetics, knowledge and know-how. The Library is a Living Organism, under the direction of castillo/corrales, with David Senior, Koenraad Dedobbeleer, Moyra Davey and Will

Holder – Workshop
January 9 – 11, 2015 – Hub Lafayette Anticipation
First session of Bibliothèques des bibliothèques, a concept workshop developed by castillo/corrales, for the compilation and organisation of knowledge.

Lafayette Re-Source, directed by Jérôme
Denis, Paul Soulellis, Attilia Fattori, Franchini, Julien Mercier and Alexandre Monnin
June 22 – 23, 2015 – Hub Lafayette Anticipation
A series of 6 conferences, 4 workshops and a screening to discuss Lafayette Anticipation – Fondation d’entreprise Galeries Lafayette’s future web platform.

L’adresse, directed by Fabien Vallos
– Workshop
June 24 – 25 – Hub Lafayette Anticipation
Two days of discussion and work around the topics of “general interest”, the “audience”, and especially the concept of “addressing” another person.

Mutant Stage is a series of choreographed short films produced by Lafayette Anticipation during the renovation of its building between 2015 and 2017. Six films have already been produced; they were directed respectively by Wendy Morgan, Elen Usdin, Benjamin Millepied, Olga Dukhovnaya and Konstantin Lipton, Louise Hémon, Frédéric Lebain and Grégoire Pédron with dancers such as Amalia Alba, Florence Casanave, Lisa Miramond, Annabelle Pirlot, Jung- Ae Kim, Volmir Cordeiro and Pauline Simon.
 
Throughout the renovation, and until the public opening of the Fondation scheduled for autumn 2017, the building located 9 rue du Plâtre will be the object of an investigation into its own mutation. The evolving architecture is measured over the months by in situ encounters of directors and performers. Initiated by the Fondation with curators Amélie Couillaud and Dimitri Chamblas, each video shoot is the opportunity for a different encounter, each setting bodies and matter into motion. Mutant Stage is part of the Lafayette Anticipation pre-launch programme, compelled by emerging performance and contemporary dance scenes.

Thus, Mutant Stage pulses both within the building and beyond, into the centre of Paris. The title of the project is inspired by an expression articulated by Rem Koolhaas that encapsulates the essence of the renovated building’s performative architecture as well as Lafayette Anticipation's commitment to the hybridisation of art and life. Each film in the collection, shaped by the visual vocabulary of dance, cinema and architecture, is both a unique and diverse piece. In this way, 9 rue du Plâtre remains a space for invitation and experimentation, a building in motion.

CURATORIAL TEAM
Lafayette Anticipation’s programming is based on a shared thought process, seeking to defy the curator’s signature in favour of collective intelligence. As such, every three years, the Fondation invites and supports independent curators living abroad. Lafayette Anticipation thus maintains permanent contact with a range of artistic scenes and and key players in the art world. This first curatorial group, led by François Quintin, is composed of three curators whose specialisations are a reflection of Lafayette Anticipation’s objectives: Charles Aubin, Anna Colin and Hicham Khalidi. Living respectively in New York City, London and Brussels, their projects fuel and foster new collaborative possibilities, unexpected and stimulating artistic invitations, fortuitous encounters. Anchored each in their own way in new practices of contemporary art, they contribute actively a performative dimension to Lafayette Anticipation, as well as an interest in socially engaged research and an openness to fashion and design.

François Quintin, Managing Director
François Quintin is director of Lafayette Anticipation –
Fondation d’entreprise Galeries Lafayette since 2011. He was previously director of the gallery Xippas (2007-10), director of the Frac Champagne-Ardenne (2001-07), and curator at the Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain (1994-2000).

Charles Aubin, associate curator since 2015
Charles Aubin is a French curator based in New York City. He worked as assistant curator for the 2005 Nuit Blanche in Paris and at the Centre Pompidou’s performance department (2006-10). As an independent curator, Charles Aubin curated exhibitions for Printemps de Septembre in Toulouse and the Biennale de Belleville in Paris. Since 2013, he has been working as associate curator at Performa, New York City’s visual art performance biennial.

Anna Colin, associate curator since 2014
Anna Colin is an independent curator and critic based in London. She co-founded and co-directs Open School East in London and is co-curator, with Lydia Yee, of the touring exhibition British Art Show 8 (Leeds, Edinburgh, Norwich and Southampton) in 2015-16. Previously, she was co-director of Bétonsalon, Paris (2011-12), guest curator at Maison populaire, Montreuil (2012) and curator of Gasworks, London (2007-10).

Hicham Khalidi, associate curator since 2015
Hicham Khalidi is a Dutch-Moroccan curator. From 2003 to 2011, he was the artistic director of TAG (Institute for Audiovisual Art in The Hague, the Netherlands). Khalidi is interested in the politics of the image, and trans-disciplinary research in speculative art and design. Since March 2013, Khalidi is head of exhibitions at Stuk kunstencentrum in Leuven, Belgium and the visual arts curator of the Marrakesh Biennale (2014 and 2016).
 
FAISONS DE L’INCONNU UN ALLIÉ*
Faisons de l’inconnu un allié reflects the Fondation’s core mission: to support creation by inventing new modes of production. In many ways, artistic production—and the research, e x p e r ime n t a t i o n , t ra n s f o rma t i o n a n d materialisation of the thought process it entails— is a journey into the unknown, an openness to uncertainty as a value. This encounter involves constant anticipation an ability to embrace a near future and to grasp inventively shifting horizons.
The Fondation understands its role in terms of anticipating the needs of those—artists, thinkers and other singular voices—in search of new forms of expression. Artists give meaning to the complex era in which we live and, while proposing new ways of thinking, imagine universes from which emerge diverse possible outcomes.
*Joining Forces with the Unknown
A synthesis and a manifesto of the activities and missions of Lafayette Anticipation: a presentation of 14 new productions, one year before the opening of the 9 rue du Plâtre building.
Camille Blatrix, Tyler Coburn, Mimosa
Echard, Simon Fujiwara, Yngve Holen,
Oliver Laric, Lucy McKenzie, Perks And
Mini (P.A.M.), Slow and Steady Wins the
Race, Studio Brynjar & Veronika, Valerie
Snobeck, Cally Spooner, Rayyane Tabet,
Anicka Yi.
11-23 October 2016
Faisons de l’inconnu un allié presents fourteen art ists stemming from the fields of contemporary art, design and fashion, whose works—sculptures, installations, films, performances—have been commissioned by Lafayett e Ant i c ipat ion – Fondat ion
d’entreprise Galeries Lafayette, each piece demonstrating the Fondation’s unique commitment to artistic production. These new creations temporarily occupy the former Weber Métaux store. A highly respected place of production, this notorious hardware store has been supplying creators since 1889 and participated in the genesis of several artistic projects. This event concludes the pre-launch programme begun by Lafayette Anticipation in autumn 2013, while also heralding the autumn 2017 opening of the Fondation’s building located 9 rue du Plâtre, renovated by architect
Rem Koolhaas and his agency, OMA.
 
LIVRE LAFAYETTE ANTICIPATION
Livre publié à l’occasion de Faisons de l’inconnu un allié, en co-édition avec JRP
Ringier.
 
LAFAYETTE ANTICIPATION BOOK
Book published for Faisons de l’inconnu un allié. Co-edited by JRP Ringier.
This book concludes next to Faisons de l’inconnu un allié the pre-launch programme
organised by the Fondation d’entreprise in October 2013. This book presents the
institutional and curatorial research launched by the Prolégomènes series and developed through production residencies, as well as through numerous projects supported by the Fondation in France and abroad.

CONTACTS
Lafayette Anticipation –
FONDATION D’ENTREPRISE
GALERIES LAFAYETTE
9 rue du Plâtre, 75004 Paris
lafayetteanticipation@galerieslafayette.com
www.lafayetteanticipation.com
@LafayetteAnticipation #LafayetteAnticipation
#FondationGaleriesLafayette
 
Team
Guillaume Houzé, President
François Quintin, Managing Director
Laurence Perrillat, Administrator
Hélène Dunner, Administrative assistant
Dirk Meylaerts, Directeur of Production
Marie-Aurore de Boisdeffre, Head of
Communications
Aude Mohammedi Merquiol, Head of
Production Coordination
Jim Vivien, Head Technical and Building
Supervisor
Cécile Larrigaldie, Project Manager
Camille Richert, Publications Project Manager
Sarah Puech, Intern (Collection)
Charles Aubin, Associate Curator
Anna Colin, Associate Curator
Hicham Khalidi, Associate Curator
 
Practical Information
Address (temporary space):
16 rue Debelleyme (previously Weber Métaux store)
75003 Paris
Hours:
Every day from October 11 - 23, 11 AM - 10 PM.
Free entry