The project is based on the principle of cooperation. It is not for every artist to produce artwork and then gather these works of art in an exhibition, but to bring together artists and work on the implementation of projects that involve collaboration with at least one other person. Besides, several works of art have a distinct participatory character.

From May, 21 to June, 8 2014, an exhibition have presented the works of art made by 26 French, Russian and Moldovan participants of our project. All these works have or will be produced exclusively in the framework of our project and reflect the artists’ personal vision of the question: what is «our ruins»?

This artistic research began in 2013 with two workshops in Moscow and in Chisinau. The residency in Rennes was destined to give artists the opportunity to get further in their work through live idea exchanges and encourage the idea of collaboration between artists. As a result, the exhibition in Rennes in may 2014 will be a melting pot of critical points of view and personal experience of artists coming from both sides of European continent.

Two floors with the total surface of 400m2 have been open up for the visitors, so that everyone can freely wander through paintings, sculptures, sound and video installations, traces of performances and texts.

What is “our ruins†?

Something ruined is something that has lost its value,
Something that vanishes; a building, an economy, a body, an idea...
Ruins are also what remain from the past.
A vestige, a trace, something that goes beyond the present.

We are interested in the ruins around us: those that we produce and those by which we are constituted either as individuals or as a society; the things that we normally don’t recognize as ruins. The ruins that we observe and analyze are both concrete and intangible. The artists take on the challenge to explore these ruins, to try to give them names, to present them.

If earlier, referring to «ruins» was mostly connected with the past, nowadays the concept of ruins contains the idea of a present time that remains and goes beyond time: take, for instance, the ruins of Detroit or Fukushima... The ruins remain with us.

It is common to constantly talk about changes in economy, ecology, technologies that we face. Raising these topics doesn’t help our comprehending of the world; it doesn’t make it easier to understand. Looking deeper into the ruins, we’re trying to touch, to observe, to see what passes by and what remains. What chances did our world prepare for us apart from being have to live in the verge of catastrophe?

What is «our ruins»? is the question asked to all the participant, artists or not: what are your ruins?

What are the ruins for you? In other words, we invite you to step out the ordinary patterns and try to think as explorers!

What is «our ruins»? gathers musicians, visual artists, writers, performers, actors, stage directors, intellectuals and invite them to share their vision.

What are our ruins? What is our common?

More information :
What is our ruins? website
Les Ateliers du Vent website