Origins, artists’ views on primary forests

2400 trees are cut down every minute. It takes seven centuries for a cleared land to become virgin forest again. If our temporal reference points rarely exceed those of the generation that precedes us, the primary forests, free of any human exploitation, are the fruit of millions of years of evolution. The last remaining forests represent only one third of the world’s forests, mainly concentrated in the Amazon, Russia, Canada, Indonesia and the Congo Basin. Cradle of biodiversity, source of the oxygen we breathe thanks to the colossal trees that relentlessly draw carbon, this essential link in the planetary balance constitutes one of the most important Nature-based Solutions to fight against climate change.

The exhibition
Origins
brings together a dozen international artists who look at these forests of origins. Their plastic research is rooted in a deep fascination for the richness of these primordial spaces with their luxuriant vitality. While some of their works are an ode to their beauty, others echo their suffering and that of the people who inhabit them. They explore the links of interdependence between humans and non-humans and question the anthropization of landscapes. How to testify of the immemorial times of the living? How to give a face to the senseless destruction that ravages them? What forms can revolt take? Through the diversity of mediums and approaches, these creations reveal a desire for reconciliation. The forest is revealed in all its freedom of expression as the condition of existence of our humanity and its possible survival.

This event is sponsored by the association Beau Beau, whose purpose is to educate and raise awareness of sustainable development issues through creation, art, transmission of know-how and innovation. After climate, water, waste and weather, the 2023 theme focuses on primary forests.

With the works of Sebastião Salgado, Frans Krajcberg, Andrea Olga Mantovani, Érik Samakh, Lucy + Jorge Orta, Guerchom Ndebo, Lélia Demoisy, Bruno Gadenne

1.618
From June 2 to 6, 2023
At the Carreau du Temple
4 Rue Eugène Spuller
75003 Paris

Learn more HERE