New design festival Contributions is Paris Art Week's alternative to blue chip fairs

It’s getting harder and harder for up-and-comers to break into the gallery scene.  Contributions (on view until 22 October 2023) is a new initiative providing fresh exposure to talents who, until now, haven’t had the chance to showcase their work in Paris (or anywhere for that matter). 

Industry expert Anna Caradeuc - an established publicist working with choice designers and platforms in both the French capital and New York - developed this new format project with consultancy Bilung. Together, they planned a series of site-specific showcases and installations mounted in select venues throughout town. 

Running concurrent to heavyweight Paris Art Week fairs like Art Basel/ Paris Now and Design Miami/ Paris, the new tightly-curated festival champions artists and designers—working primarily in collectible and limited edition sectors—who align in their appreciation for idiosyncrasy, DIY experimentation, collaboration, and autonomous practice. 

Contributions, a new design fair in Paris

'I was born and grew up in Paris, and I’ve always been very attached to my city but have only been able to work on occasional projects here,' Caradeuc says. 'Spending more time here since the pandemic, I’ve noticed that the city has opened to international initiatives. However, I felt that the design scene was still very local compared to Milan but also New York, Miami, London, and Copenhagen. I had the dream of bringing this international perspective I had experienced elsewhere to my own city. By developing Contributions over the past six months with Simon Descamps and Isabelle Moisy-Cobti from local agency Bilung, I was able to realize that goal.'

It was with dedication and a scrappy resolve that they were able to pull it off so quickly. 'Our idea was to keep it intimate, purposeful, and rooted in meaningful human connections,' she adds. 'Contributions is more of a spontaneous public art project and less of collectible design fair with mercantile inclinations. Some of the codes are similar and of course the works are for sale, but for us, as organizers, the motivations and foundational values were different. I believe this gave us a lot of creative freedom, and allowed us to present the work of these galleries, designers and artists in unexpected ways - both in terms of formats and locations.'

Highlights from Contributions' debut

Calling on her extensive network, the publicist-turned-curator focused on establishing unique pairings. This fall, preeminent New York purveyor of post-war French design Demisch Danant chose to swap exhibition spaces with iconic Parisian gallery Anne-Sophie Duval, the go-to platform for Art Deco works. Brussels contemporary design gallery Maniera joined forces with Paris historical design gallery Desprez-Bréhéret. 

L.A. textile maker Studio Ford and New York antique dealer Christopher Cawley are showing together at La Louisiane, the French capital’s own version of the storied Chelsea Hotel. Lisbon-based French duo HAOS is presenting their new hyper minimal but expertly crafted furnishings in a post-apocalyptic setting mounted by L.A. curator Sized, who also brought in works by Rich Aybar, Omer Arbel, and Katerina Jebb.

French-born, New York-based designer Sophie Lou Jacobsen is debuting new vases and glassware with Argentine artist Conie Vallese. Georgian textile artist Mariana Chkonia is showcasing with local gallery Sinople for the first time. The platform also pulled rare pieces from its roster of emerging designers. Everything was staged in an untouched, century-old artist atelier. 

If this who's who line up of exhibitors wasn’t enough, Contributions is also incorporating a robust series of panel discussion held every night at these various locales.

Caradeuc concludes: 'it was a big gamble to pair people together but we're really glad everyone went for it. The collective spirit fully came to life this week.'

Contributions is on view until 22 October 2023

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