Women In Motion at the 2022 European Heritage Days

As every year since 2016, Kering has joined forces with the Pinault Collection for the European Heritage Days to present a collection of contemporary art works. 40, rue de Sèvres, the headquarters of Kering and Balenciaga, will become a museum for two days by opening its doors to one and all, whether young or old, Parisians or tourists, fashion enthusiasts or history lovers. 

To celebrate this new edition, Kering and the Pinault Collection selected Belgian artist, Edith Dekyndt, to design a solo exhibition illustrating how works created between 2000 and 2022 interplay with new productions, specifically designed for the event. 

The influence of the Laennec chapel extends beyond hosting Dekyndt’s works, having inspired some of them by determining the physical processes and materials. This represents a natural extension of Dekyndt’s belief that every object is a living organism, constantly interacting and resonating with its host environment. It sparks interactions between heritage and contemporary creation, while also reconsidering humanity’s place in the world.

One of the works showcased is Visitation Zone (2020), a set of vivaria containing pickled apples. In a subtle choreography, a young woman slowly and carefully moves the apples from one container to another. First commissioned by the Riga International Biennial of Contemporary Art, the work now sits in the Laennec chapel, resonating anew with the former hospital’s history as well as the hardships of history suffered by the people of Eastern Europe.

Edith Dekyndt works with phenomena at the threshold of the visible and the invisible. Developing her approach out of a minimalist tradition, she homes in on singular, discrete movements, which are then isolated, magnified or repeated. Balanced between the melancholic and the scientific, her works redirect our focus to the subtle presences of everyday life and invite us to meditate on the slow process of transformation in the world around us.

40, rue de Sèvres – Paris 7th arrondissement

Open to the public Saturday September 17 and Sunday September 18, from 10am to 7pm*, with an evening event on Saturday 17 until 10pm*.

*Last entry one hour before closing time.