Archipelagic narratives

an inaugural exhibition / La Maison Fleuve 2026

“Eco-living” is not merely about living sustainably in a place. It is a way of connecting
with a territory, its ways of life, its memories, and the stories that run through it. This reflection involves paying attention to actions, bodies, and landscapes. Observing, listening to, and bringing to light presences that are often marginalized becomes a way of inhabiting differently. Acts of transmission, care, repair, or cultivation help maintain a living connection with the territory.
“Eco-living” also invites us to rethink our relationship to places: not as spaces to be possessed, but as relationships to be cultivated. To inhabit is to coexist with humans and non-humans and to accept being transformed by this coexistence. In Sillages, coastal and island territories become prime spaces for exploring these issues. Subject to profound ecological, social, and political transformations, they reveal the shifting nature of inhabiting—shaped by movements, memories, and imaginations.

In September and October 2026 on L’Île-Saint-Denis, north of the capital, the Cneai will present the exhibition “Récits archipéliques,” both indoors and outdoors at Place de la Batellerie. It features works by Olivier Crouzel, Guy Gabon, Jean-Claude Jolet, and Andreas Kressig, which were exhibited in 2025 at the Festival d’art de l’Estran in Brittany. These early works are accompanied by new pieces by Valérie du Chéné, Claude Dugit-Gros, and Simone Lagrand. These guest artists, each with their own distinct approaches—participatory installations, memorial sculptures, eco-poetic interventions, and contextual projections/installations—weave together a sensory cartography in which the specific characteristics of each territory reveal universal resonances.

The Artists

EXHIBITION

• 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.
• OLIVIER CROUZEL is a French artist. He creates contextual art that blends video projections and site-specific interventions, transforming spaces into poetic and contemplative forms while questioning a changing world where disappearance and traces become subjects of observation.
• CLAUDE DUGIT-GROS is an artist from Ilodionys. Her work draws on the applied arts in its technical mastery; she creates open and inclusive pieces using simple, accessible forms. She seeks to establish a connection with her environment that is as poetic as it is practical.
• 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 of our consumer society.
• JEAN-CLAUDE JOLET is an artist from Réunion. For the past fifteen years or so, he has been exploring cultural hybridity and Creole identity through sculptural installations that examine the lingering effects of Réunion’s colonial history.
• ANDREAS KRESSING is a Swiss artist. He creates ephemeral, habitable structures using assemblages of recycled materials, crafting inviting spaces that come to life through the audience’s physical interaction.
• SIMONE LAGRAND is an artist from Martinique. She is a poet, a pawolèz, and an interdisciplinary artist.

PUBLICATION

• GWENNINA MOIGNE is a graphic designer and is editing the Sillages program.
  The journal provides an overview of the entire program from 2024 to 2026 and brings together contributions from numerous artists and authors around this collective project led by cultural and artistic organizations on a reciprocal basis. It reflects an approach centered on cooperation, exchange, and residencies, highlighting the interactions between artists, regions, and institutions. Supported by numerous cultural and financial partners, this publication thus serves as a record of these collaborations and the connections forged between the various stakeholders and regions.

CURATING

• ANN STOUVENEL, director of Cneai =, exhibition curator and co-editorial director of the accompanying publication.
  
  
  

The SILLAGES Program

SILLAGES / 2024–2025
As part of the first phase of the project, two exploratory trips were organized: to Réunion in November 2024 and to Martinique in January 2025. This first phase of the project concluded in May and September 2025 with artist residencies and an exhibition of the four artists’ works at the Festival d’art de l’Estran in Brittany. The artists were selected by a curatorial team composed of recognized professionals with complementary profiles, embodying 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.

SILLAGES / 2025-2026
Sillages prolonge cette dynamique en ouvrant une réflexion commune : comment (ré)habiter les territoires ? Peut-on faire émerger, révéler d’autres récits, d’autres pratiques, d’autres puissances de ces espaces souvent fragmentés ou marginalisés ? Un séjour de prospection et une résidence sont réalisées en mai en Guadeloupe, en parallèle d’une exposition à La Réunion de Jean-Claude Jolet. Une master class de Guy Gabon se déroule en Martinique en fin 2026 et vient clôturer les deux premiers volets du programme.
Le 25 septembre 2026, l’exposition Récits archipéliques présente, dans et hors-les-murs de la Maison Fleuve du Cneai =, des œuvres produites lors des résidences Sillages entre 2024 et 2026. Un mobilier spécifique est réalisé pour cet espace public et marque le lancement d’événements artistiques Place de la Batellerie sur L’Île-Saint-Denis.

Retrouvez toutes les informations ici : Communiqué de Presse

Related Events

OPENING CEREMONY - LA MAISON FLEUVE

• September 25–26, 2026 = Opening ceremony for Maison Fleuve, the new Cneai location on L’Île-Saint-Denis, accompanied by a series of lectures and events both inside and outside Maison Fleuve.
• September 25 > December 18, 2026 = Maison Fleuve - Island Fertility & River Roots
  
  
  

Partners

SILLAGES MEMBERS 2025–2026

• The Artists’ Documents Network is the federation of regional Artists’ Documents associations. It implements projects developed in collaboration with its members to promote the work and visibility of artists from the regions where its members are active.
• Documents d’artistes Caraïbes et Amazonies is a documentary archive that contributes to the promotion and recognition of professional artists from Guadeloupe, French Guiana, and Martinique.
• Documents d’artistes La Réunion carries out its mission among artists living and working on the island through a platform that provides visibility and support for contemporary visual artists from Réunion.
• La Station Culturelle, founded in 2018 in Fort-de-France, Martinique, is an association that promotes access to cultural venues, supports emerging Caribbean artists, and strengthens the bonds between artists and the public. It offers residencies and guides creators toward professionalization at the regional, Caribbean, and international levels, while providing support for project development.
• The Cneai = A multifaceted, dynamic, socially engaged, sheltered, and imaginative art center, it is a space for research, production, artist residencies, and the dissemination of contemporary art. The art center houses three collections: Yona Friedman, FMRA, and Multiples, as well as a publishing house and a “Floating House”—a boat designed by the Bouroullec brothers and dedicated to artist residencies.

ASSOCIATED PARTNERS
Sillages 2025–2026 is produced in collaboration with Cité des Arts de La Réunion, a unique institution in the Indian Ocean dedicated to the development of the arts, from creation to presentation. / Campus Caraïben des arts is Martinique’s higher education institution for the arts.

A CO-PRODUCTION
The exhibition Récits archipéliques receives valuable support from: The City of L'Île-Saint-Denis, the only island municipality in the Île-de-France region, with a population of 8,800. In 2026, the Cneai will establish its headquarters there, the Maison Fleuve, on Place de la Batellerie. / Plaine Commune, a territorial public institution (EPT) comprising 8 cities and 1 delegated municipality north of Paris. / Greater Paris Metropolis, the only intermunicipal entity in Île-de-France with “metropolis” status. It comprises the City of Paris and 130 municipalities.
As part of the national initiative “Produce Better, Distribute Better”—Ministry of Culture.

SILLAGES MEMBERS 2024–2025
Thank you to the partners of the first edition of Sillages, without whom this project would not have been possible: Lannion-Tregor Communauté and the L’Estran Art Festival / Documents d’artistes Bretagne / Documents d’artistes La Réunion / Finis terrae - Centre d’art insulaire / La Station Culturelle / Le Réseau documents d’artistes