Uncertainties of Space

This exhibition brings together four artists whose works challenge the grand narrative of the Space adventure as we know it. Through videos and installations conceived from CNES' archive materials or more contemporary documents, each artist leads us towards a fictional or even experimental rewriting of the history of Space exploration.

The artists become narrators, telling lesser known stories of this technological and human adventure. They return to the beginnings of the French Space epic at the end of the Second World War with the creation of the Hammaguir base in Algeria, which was French, in the African colonial context, recounting the tests and unexpected encounters on board a stratospheric balloon or also recall the experimental expeditions of non-humans (animals etc.) and machines (space vehicles, artificial intelligence etc.) in this Space odyssey.

The contemporary art collection of the CNES Space Observatory brings together works resulting from calls for projects and collaborations with artists from all disciplines who wish to reflect on materials, past and present, resulting from space activities.

Each work is deposited at the Abattoirs, Musée - Frac Occitanie Toulouse and reinforces the fertile dialogue between arts and sciences developed in the collections.

The exhibition finds a particular echo under the sky of the city of Toulouse, which is part of this terrestrial history of Space exploration, for a season under the sign of the stars with the presentation, in partnership with the Hang-art in Esquièze-Sère, of the exhibition Et maintenant l'espace! The CNES Space Observatory Collection (until 9 October 2022).

Artists: Véronique Béland, Justine Emard, Elise Parré, Isabelle Prim

In partnership with :