CAPC 2023-1973. Une histoire d'expositions

Since it was founded in 1973, the CAPC – originally the Centre d’arts plastiques contemporains, which became the Museum of Contemporary Art of Bordeaux in 1984 and was labelled “Musée de France” in 2002–, has been dedicated to contemporary art. This place of research and experimentation has brought together artists and visitors curious to discover new figures and new ideas. These encounters have taken place around works of art, many of which have joined its collection. With over 1,600 works by more than 200 artists from all over the world, the CAPC’s collection includes works by artists such as Daniel Buren, Nan Goldin, Simon Hantaï, Sol LeWitt, Annette Messager and Richard Serra. Other works from the collection, created in situ, are on permanent display, including those by Christian Boltanski, Keith Haring and Richard Long.

In this anniversary publication, the history of the institution is told through its exhibitions, looking at the works’ production, their installation (inside and outside the walls) and how they were received by the public. Eva Barois de Caevel (independent curator) has been entrusted with the task of transcribing this narrative, from the founding of the art centre to its most recent exhibitions, enabling the past to be seen through the prism of the present, in order to view this history in the light of current thought and theoretical reflection. Each chapter opens with contributions from a number of the directors and curators who have helped to build the institution as a field for cultural experimentation.

With texts by Sandra Patron, Eva Barois de Caevel, Marc Sanchez, Nicolas Bourriaud, Heanry-Claude Cousseau, Marie-Laure Bernadac, Hou Hanru, Hans Ulrich Obrist, Maurice Fréchuret, Thierry Davila, Charlotte Laubard, Yann Chateigné Tytelman, Anthony Huberman and Paul Pfeiffer, María Inés Rodríguez, Alice Motard, Alexandra Midal, Catalina Lozano, Guillaume Désanges and François Piron; interview by Didier Arnaudet and Cédric Fauq; time line by Romaric Favre.