Paper Routes

Celebrating the 10 years of AiR Arts

On the occasion of the 10 years of AiR Arts, we celebrate a decade of international exchanges, artistic research and encounters. What began as a small residence gradually developed into an international community, continuing the story of 150 years of Atelier 11, Cité Falguière, a place where artists can live, work and exchange ideas.

Over the past decade, AiR Arts has welcomed more than 220 artists and cultural professionals from more than 60 countries. Through our residency program and our programming open to the public, we continue to promote exchanges across borders, contributing to the history of Atelier 11 and the wider heritage of Montparnasse as a place for artistic exchanges. We are deeply touched by the artistic practices that have developed over the course of our programs, as well as by the enduring friendships that continue to spread throughout the world.

Paper Routes

Paper Routes brings together artists from the network of former residents of AiR Arts at Atelier 11, and traces the links between artists, places and ideas that have developed within the residency over the past decade. Presented in the historic walls of Atelier 11, Paper Routes is co-curated by former residents of L’AiR Arts Juan Hinojosa and Clare Patrick, and is accompanied by a public program of workshops led by former residents.

The works gathered here bear witness to various artistic practices, stories and lifestyles, but share the same material, which has long allowed ideas to circulate through distances. The paper can keep track of a moment, preserve a memory, travel from one place to another and move from one person to another. In this sense, the works become both the traces of individual journeys and the elements of a wider network of exchanges. Like artists whose influence spans continents and generations, paper also connects people and places across time and distance. Light enough to cross borders, but durable enough to carry a lifetime of ideas, it can be compared to a home or a workshop that you take with you. It can be folded, superimposed, marked, transformed, transported and preserved. While artists have traced their journeys to and from Paris, paper has remained a recurring material with endless possibilities: malleable, resilient and able to retain memory while being continuously transformed.

The title Paper Routes evokes these movements: the journeys that artists take through places and communities, the paths that ideas travel between individuals and the journeys that works make beyond the workshop. Together with Atelier 11, these works create a temporary meeting place between different geographies, generations and artistic practices.

This exhibition is also a fundraiser to support the preservation of the site and its artistic heritage, as well as the residency programs and cultural programming open to the public led by AiR Arts. Thank you for helping us keep this story alive!

Atelier 11 Memories

Accompanied by a series of events led by our alumni, this exhibition invites you to participate in practical workshops. Join us to create your own memory of the Atelier 11 and leave with a work of your own!

Drawing workshop and conversation: Paper as Timekeeper

15 Nov, 15-17h

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Please note, this workshop takes place at Reid Hall / Columbia Global Paris Centre.

Relief printmaking workshop and guided walk: Good Impressions

18 Nov, 15-19h

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Painting workshop: Seeking - A Natural Pigment Zine on Hanji and Silk

19 Nov, 15-17h

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Charcoal rubber workshop: Frottage

20 Nov, 15-17h

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This anniversary program is part of Montparnasse International, the new initiative of AiR Arts that explores the heritage of École de Paris as a model of intercultural exchange, international collaboration and solidarity.