The project

Sillages is a long-term project that involves an unprecedented collaboration between artists and institutions from both island and mainland regions.
The cultural outreach component of the Sillages project is based on an approach that takes into account the unique characteristics of the regions involved. The narratives, imaginations, and modes of transmission are deeply shaped by distinct historical, social, and cultural legacies. Thus, the mediation will be structured as a dialogue to foster a better understanding of the artistic and cultural issues in these island contexts.
Following a successful first edition in 2024–2025, focused on the sensitive geographies of coastal areas and long-term professional support for artists from these regions, the project will continue in 2026 and 2027.

Sillages #1

As part of the first phase of the project, two scouting trips were organized: to Réunion in November 2024 and to Martinique in January 2025.
The artists were selected by a curatorial team composed of recognized professionals with complementary backgrounds, representing a diversity of perspectives. This team, comprising Elsa Briand, Eline Gourgues, Bérénice Saliou, and Ann Stouvenel, reflects a shared commitment to supporting contemporary artistic practices.
This first phase of the project concluded in 2025 with an exhibition of the four artists’ works at the Festival d’art de l’Estran in Brittany.

Sillages #2

Sillages 2 builds on this momentum by initiating a collective reflection: how can we (re)inhabit these territories? Can we bring to light and reveal other narratives, other practices, and other potentials within these often fragmented or marginalized spaces?
Building on the work begun in 2025, Sillages #2 extends the visibility and circulation of the works created by Guy Gabon, Jean-Claude Jolet, Olivier Crouzel, and Andreas Kressig for the Estran Festival. The works will travel to L’Île-Saint-Denis and take their place in public spaces, within the eco-neighborhood surrounding the Maison Fleuve. They will weave their way through the streets, the banks of the Seine, and the island’s gardens and will be on view for one month.
A re-presentation of the works is scheduled for September 2026 at the Maison Fleuve of the cneai =.

Artists

Continuing the work begun in 2025, Sillages #2 aims to extend the visibility and circulation of works created by artists Andreas Kressig, Guy Gabon, Jean-Claude Jolet, and Olivier Crouzel for the Festival de l’Estran.

Jean Claude Jolet is an artist from Réunion. For the past fifteen years, he has been exploring cultural diversity and Creole identity through sculptural installations that question the lingering effects of Réunion’s colonial history.

Guy Gabon is an artist from Guadeloupe. A pioneer of land art in Guadeloupe and Martinique, she creates multifaceted artistic experiments in natural and urban landscapes to highlight the imbalances in our consumer society.

He and she benefited from a creative residency in the Lannion-Trégor area in May 2025, joined by two artists selected through a call for applications :
Olivier Crouzel is a French artist. He develops contextual art combining video projections and in situ interventions that transform spaces into poetic and contemplative forms, questioning a changing world where disappearance and traces become subjects of observation.

Andreas Kressig is a Swiss artist. He develops ephemeral, habitable architectures from assemblages of recycled materials, creating convivial spaces activated by the physical experience of the public.

These four artists weave together a sensitive cartography in which the specificities of each territory reveal universal resonances.
They came together to propose and exhibit contextual works at the Festival de l’Estran in September 2025. They will be reunited in la Maison Fleuve in septembre 2026 to exhibit their work for the second time.

Valérie du Chéné is a French artist whose practice centers on painting, installation, sculpture, and drawing. She explores color, relationships with others, and the experience of space.

Claude Dugit-Gros is a designer. Her work draws on the applied arts in its technical mastery; she develops an open and inclusive body of work featuring simple, accessible forms. She seeks to establish a connection with her environment that is as poetic as it is practical.

Dissemination

This exploration will focus on the concept of “eco-living,” in the sense that inhabiting a territory is not limited to its occupation or use, but also involves a sensitive and situated relationship—with the place itself, the people who inhabit it, and the stories that run through it. 
Each partner will carry out a specific initiative from their own territory, in collaboration with artists they support (from local scenes or elsewhere). These projects, designed in harmony with the territory in question, are linked by a common thread: exploring concrete and symbolic forms of inhabiting, of reclaiming the territory we inhabit, traverse, or imagine… through artistic gestures, transmitted knowledge, or shared narratives.
On Île-Saint-Denis, at Maison Fleuve, cneai = will present an off-site exhibition featuring works by Guy Gabon, Andreas Kressig, Olivier Crouzel, Jean-Claude Jolet, and new works by Valérie du Chéné and designer Claude Dugit Gros, to mark the official opening of the new venue.

Rendez-vous

19 > 20.09.2026 = Inauguration of Maison Fleuve, the new home of the cneai =, located on Île-Saint-Denis, accompanied by a series of lectures and events held at and around Maison Fleuve.
SEPT > NOV 2026 = Île-Saint-Denis program
SEPT > DEC 2026 = Fertilité îlienne & ancrage fluvial

Partners

Driven by a network of dedicated individuals, it is currently supported by the Plaine Commune Urban Community and the Ministry of Culture—DRAC La Réunion—as part of the national initiative “Mieux produire / Mieux diffuser”.