HD Video – color – stereo sound – 15 min 34 sec loop – 2021

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Passenger Centers is reacting to the closure of the Parc Saint-Léger art center located on the outskirts of Nevers, in the Nièvre department in France. Following the sale of the building and the sharp reduction in its subsidies, the contemporary art center closes its doors in summer 2021 after having played a crucial role in the French contemporary art scene for the past twenty years. The video follows an actress playing the last resident of the art center. Oscillating between documentary and fiction-theater, the aim is to make the crucial role of art centers in rural areas visible and to question their institutional weaknesses. Through the organization of a workshop with local families, the resident tries to imagine and collectively build models of a new building that could house the art center. Through a dive into the archives of the art center and a monologue, Passenger Centers attempts to grasp the systemic difficulties of artistic institutions and local policies with regard to art.
The video was produced following a research residency at Parc Saint-Léger and was shown for the first time during a solo exhibition at the art center.