Jeudis Arty gives everybody a chance, expert or novice collector, contemporary art specialist or not, to discover the universe of galleries through an unprecedented nocturnal. Private viewing, performances, encounters with artists or guided tours, Thursday 1st June offers an arty evening in galleries at the heart of the Marais quarter. For this occasion, we asked Alice Lebredonchel, creator of Jeudis Arty, a few questions.

Artsper: Your next edition will be held Thursday 1st June 2017: Is the concept still the same or has it evolved?

Alice Lebredonchel: Our next edition will be a unique annual edition. Indeed, we are offering a new formula to our audience in the form of an exceptional event throughout the year offering more visibility, with renewed content and a more ambitious programme.

By substituting the 3 annual nocturnes for a single larger nocturnal one, we wanted to develop new mediation tools for the public, including new guided tours, but also to enrich the programming of the nocturnes thanks, in particular, to the organization of performances in the participating art galleries.

In addition, we have worked with the Collectif Diamètre, which will be in charge of programming our arty party from 9pm to midnight, to ensure that the closing evening lasts for a week with an exhibition at the Carreau du Temple.

Artsper: One of the interests of Jeudis Arty is the guided tours you offer. Can you say a few words about it?

Alice Lebredonchel: The starting idea of Jeudis Arty is to bring the largest audience to the galleries and give them the keys to understanding this contemporary creation. Our audience is familiar with cultural places and has a strong appetite for art. But he is an amateur and in our desire to make him grow the door of the galleries, it is necessary to accompany him.

This is the objective of our guided tours for an hour and a half or two hours, accompanied or not by mediators but for which a route is always defined. They are declined in the form of themes according to the exhibitions and artists presented in the galleries at the time of our night.

For this 9th edition, we are innovating and proposing new routes. In particular, a treasure hunt in 4 galleries, for two hours, using a booklet that will allow visitors, by answering questions during their visit, to discover artists, artistic trends and familiarize themselves with specific vocabulary or techniques.

ArtsperArtsper: What are the must-see events in this edition?

Alice Lebredonchel: Of course, the Arty Party remains a highlight of our night, in the second part of the evening. We invite the public to come and have a drink after the galleries close, to share their impressions and discover the exceptional program set up at the Carreau du Temple. This year, we invited the Diamètre collective to imagine for the public of Jeudis Arty a fuller and more innovative closing evening. From 9pm to midnight, a visual artist, Mehdi Besnainou and two scenographer-designers, Marion Flament and Jimme Cloo, with a transdisciplinary intention, will propose a plastic and visual dialogue. The exhibition, deeply immersive, will testify to the playful relationship with the city proposed by Jeudis Arty in this stroll between the galleries of the streets of the Marais.

And for the first time, it will remain on display for a week after the night, on the windows of the Carreau du Temple, to make the pleasure last!

In addition, from 6pm to 10pm, exceptional facilities will be set up in the galleries for the public of Jeudis Arty: presence of artists, screenings, performances, signatures...

Once again, conviviality, exchange and sharing will be the order of the day!

ArtsperArtsper: Has the selection of galleries changed?

Alice Lebredonchel: The way the galleries are selected has not changed. We are always committed to choosing galleries in which we know above all that our audience will be warmly received.

This year, 32 galleries will participate in our edition, from Beaubourg to Rue Saint-Claude.

The programming of the galleries at night is also important, both in a desire to diversify the artistic offer presented to the public and also in a concern for coherence in the constitution of the guided tours that we propose. We also ask them to think, with the artists exposed at the gallery during the night, of a particular device that will allow the public to discover in more detail their work and their works.

Artsper: What are your prospects for evolution in the near future?

Alice Lebredonchel: We have many ideas for the future, but above all we want to focus on two things that are important to us. First of all, we would like to create a collectors' club, which would allow us to federate a community of art lovers and informed collectors, in order to create synergies between people and between gallery owners.

In parallel, we want to develop monthly events, on a smaller scale than at night, in order to offer a year-round programme to our loyal public: arty brunch, dinner in the gallery, children's workshop, etc. These events would always take place in the gallery and would make it possible to welcome a new public by proposing new content.