À Paris, une ancienne maison close héberge une exposition puissante autour du travail du sexe
In the heart of Paris's Marais district, a former brothel at 10 rue des Écouffes now hosts a powerful exhibition organized by the artist collective Reflet Machine. Titled "Maison de rendez-vous," the show opened during Nuit Blanche and delves into the site's history through archival research at the Bibliothèque historique de Paris and police records. Works by artists including Romy Alizée, Oihana Ospital, Nans Laborde-Jourdàa, Gaëlle Choisne, Maty Biayenda, Amélie Cabocel, and Julien Munschy explore themes of sex work, fetishization, racism, and precarity, using the building's architecture—from mirrored salons to toilets—as integral exhibition spaces.
This exhibition matters because it reclaims a historically charged space to center the voices and struggles of sex workers, both past and present. By intertwining archival material with contemporary art, it challenges lingering stigmas and offers a nuanced, intersectional perspective on labor, race, and bodily autonomy. The show also exemplifies how artist-run spaces can transform hidden histories into urgent public discourse, making it a significant cultural intervention in the heart of Paris.