Download here the Visitor's guide. - Les Ateliers de Rennes

Regional art, innovation, and dynamism
Daniel Delaveau, Mayor of Rennes, President of Rennes Métropole
Editorials
The 2008 and 2010 editions of the Ateliers de Rennes were held in the Couvent des Jacobins,
a monument that is part of Rennes’ cultural heritage and has since become a conference
centre. The third Ateliers de Rennes will be held in two other iconic buildings of the Rennes
cityscape. The first, the former regional telecommunications headquarters, is a remarkable
structure built in 1975 by the architect Louis Arretche. The second is the brand new Frac
Bretagne headquarters designed by Odile Decq, which stands close to the 72 pillars of
Aurelie Nemours’ Alignement du XXIe siècle, a recent and typical public commission in Rennes.
The Ateliers de Rennes welcomed 40,000 to 50,000 visitors to its first two editions and
quickly became a major event in the Rennes’ cultural calendar. The Biennial manages to
involve an audience that reaches beyond the usual public for modern art, and it mobilises
many of the cultural actors and cultural facilities of the region. The Musée des Beaux-arts,
the La Criée Centre d'Art Contemporain, and the Galerie 40mcube, for example, are all
hosting exhibitions this year. The Biennial is an event of international significance and it
greatly increases our region’s appeal by shining a spotlight on the vibrancy and richness of
the Rennes modern art scene.
The artistic programme developed for this year’s event springs directly from the urban,
economic, and social context of our metropolitan area. Its title, Les Prairies, inevitably
evokes the image of the pioneer. It is an image that accords with the ability to break with
convention, to invent, and to innovate which typifies the dynamic qualities of Rennes
Métropole, as much in business as in research, as in artistic creation - in all its forms.
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