Theatre, production, performance: fashion invests in art

Fashion houses like Chanel are increasingly investing in contemporary art, not merely as inspiration for prints or patterns but as a strategic tool for brand positioning and cultural credibility. Gallery owner Tristan Paprocki, who recently opened a Milan space with partner Guido Romero Pierini, notes that brands now seek out emerging artists to demonstrate foresight and support new talent. Chanel has collaborated with Berlin's Hamburger Bahnhof museum for large-scale installations by artists such as Klára Hosnedlová and Lina Lapelytė, and has announced ten artists for the third edition of its Next Prize 2026, including Bárbara Sánchez-Kane, Pan Daijing, and Álvaro Urbano. These artists work across fashion, sculpture, and performance, blurring the lines between clothing and contemporary art.

Toyota Tsusho Celebrates Five Award Recipients of THE TOYOTA TSUSHO CFAO African Art Award

Toyota Tsusho Corporation and its subsidiary CFAO SAS have announced the five inaugural winners of the Toyota Tsusho CFAO African Art Award. Zimbabwean mixed-media artist Moffat Takadiwa received the Grand Prize, while Gosette Lubondo and Unathi Mkonto were honored with Distinguished Awards. The selection process involved 35 international art professionals who nominated 100 artists, eventually narrowing the field to 12 finalists before selecting the five winners across various categories including painting and photography.

How the State Supports Provenance Research

Comment l’État soutient la recherche de provenance

The French Ministry of Culture has created two specialized missions to assist museums in researching the provenance of their collections, addressing looted artworks, human remains, colonial acquisitions, and illicit trafficking. The Mission for Research and Restitution of Looted Cultural Property (M2RS), established in 2019, focuses on Nazi-era spoliations (1933-1945) with a budget of €220,000 annually, while the newer Mission "Provenance," launched in 2024 under curator Catherine Chevillot, covers human remains, colonial-era objects, and illicit goods with a €450,000 budget. These missions provide expertise, funding, and coordination with institutions like the Commission for the Restitution of Property and Compensation of Victims of Anti-Semitic Spoliation (CIVS), though most museums still only initiate provenance checks during acquisitions or donations.

For the 50th anniversary of his death, the controversial photographer Pierre Molinier at the heart of an important biography

Pour le cinquantenaire de sa mort, le sulfureux photographe Pierre Molinier au cœur d’une importante biographie

A new biography of the provocative French photographer and painter Pierre Molinier (1900–1976) has been published to mark the 50th anniversary of his death. Co-published by Mollat and L'Arbre vengeur, the book "Molinier. Une vie d'enfer" is an updated and expanded version of Pierre Petit's 1992 text, incorporating newly surfaced documents and reflecting Molinier's growing international recognition.

How nature is helping a rural French arts centre to reduce its carbon footprint

The Centre International d’Art et du Paysage—Île de Vassivière (CIAPV), a rural French arts centre on a forested island in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, is tackling its carbon footprint after a government-mandated analysis revealed that 95% of its emissions come from visitors driving to the remote site. Executive director Alexandra McIntosh is drawing on the island's manmade landscape—shaped by hydroelectric damming, agriculture, and logging—to implement ecological initiatives, including rewilding open fields, creating a self-managing test forest with botanist Francis Hallé, and planting pollinating flowers to boost biodiversity.