VOIR LA MER EXHIBITION

To lose oneself in the deep blue to the horizon, to dream of infinity, indolence and adventure, to let oneself be invaded by unfathomable possibilities: seeing the sea absorbs us, all of us, inexorably. Through the ages, how many have set off to face its swells, without map or compass, guided by a taste for the open sea, the desire to conquer its riches or the hope of reinventing themselves on other shores? The soil of our civilizations, the heroine of our myths and our imaginations, the sea is the paradoxical expression of our relationship with nature, between contemplation and exploitation. Today, we must look the sea in the face, sublime as ever, but also fragmented, exploited, exhausted and colonized on all sides. Ocean warming, rising sea levels, acidification and deoxygenation of the seas, overfishing, plastic and chemical pollution, degradation of marine habitats, collapse of biodiversity, proliferation of invasive species… The ocean is under multiple threats.

Yet it is at the root of the global phenomena that make the Earth habitable. Its immense and unique water mass circulating on the surface of the globe in fact regulates the water cycle and meteorological movements. It also stabilizes the climate by absorbing more than half of humanity’s CO₂ emissions. Finally, it constitutes the planet’s largest ecosystem. The cradle of organic life, the ocean is also the cradle of economic and commercial life. The majority of humans live on its shores, and three billion of them depend directly on marine biodiversity to meet their needs. The cornerstone of free trade, criss-crossed by millions of ships, the sea hides the worst excesses from view: overfishing and its destructive methods, ecocidal mining, nuclear testing, illegal dumping, the abandonment of exiled people… And this at a time when it is perceived as a reservoir of future solutions for energy, food and new materials. Between international cooperation, naval battles and trade wars, the sharing of its resources and spaces makes the ocean a major geopolitical issue, linking human beings as much as opposing them.

From the exhilaration of the deep to the foam of a capsized ocean, the exhibition invites us to dive into the wave, not to take to the sea, but rather to learn how to give it back. Return the sea to its equilibrium, to its unfathomable immensity, to those who know how to take care of it, and imagine new concrete actions to engage resilience with the worlds of water.

With the artists: Adélaïde Feriot, Charlotte Gautier van Tour, Carla Gueye, Elsa Guillaume, Hypercomf, Latent Community, Rémi Lécussan, Émeric Lhuisset, Mathieu Lorry Dupuy, Ana Mendes, Jacques Perconte, Duke Riley, Ugo Schiavi and ONG Bloom

COMMISSARIAT – Lauranne Germond

SCENOGRAPHY – Benjamin Gabrié

TEXTS – Lauranne Germond, Alice Rochepeau, MAIF Social Club

EXECUTIVE PRODUCTION – Artistik Bazaar

TECHNICAL MANAGEMENT – Rejoyce

FURNITURE MAKER – Solid

THANKS TO LENDERS AND PARTNERS
Galerie Georges-Philippe & Nathalie Vallois, Hugo Bordet

October 11, 2025 to July 25, 2026

Maif Social Club, 37 rue de Turenne, Paris 3rd arrondissement

Free admission