A New Stage for the Martell Foundation
Established in the heart of the city of Cognac on the initiative of César Giron, President and CEO of the Martell Mumm Perrier-Jouët Group, and placed under the energetic direction of Nathalie Viot, the Martell Corporate Foundation is multiplying projects which engage in contemporary creation in a fertile and exciting crossover of disciplines. An update on current projects with the director of the premises.
L’OFFICIEL ART: Since its pre-opening in Autumn 2016, the Martell Corporate Foundation has multiplied initiatives in order to continue to embody the ambition of this entity, before its full inauguration planned for 2021. How did this period and all the events enrich the vision and gain the attention of local and national visitors?
NATHALIE VIOT: In the end we are merely carrying to completion all the elements of the prefiguration imagined in January
2016. We are even completing it with a range of events, which will be full of surprises for the public, and with artistic and corporate partnerships that enrich the vision and multiply each year.
After having organized the MétaMusiques festival in May, the Foundation supported the Biennale de Vallauris and the Francofolies de La Rochelle. Why these choices and how do they fit with your space in Cognac?
The Foundation is a multidisciplinary place, and we started a partnership with L’Abbaye aux Dames from the very beginning of our existence. Music has always been at the heart of our desires. It was important, however, to also create our own festival and to allow the folk music of Nouvelle-Aquitaine to be heard by new audiences, all the while keeping in mind our multidisciplinary dimension: during MetaMusiques, some musicians—such as Chassol, Mellano, Iouri Camicas and Youri Fernandez—presented aesthetic creations that enhance the musical experience of the audience... It was also important to have with us David Sanson, programmer of this edition and music journalist who has been living for two years in Bordeaux.
Coming soon at the Foundation, we will be opening the “Ateliers du faire”. The bienniale de Vallauris, which is 100% ceramic, was a natural partner. This year I was part of the steering committee, whose mission was to revive this biennale, and which proposed that Olivier Van Herpt create an exhibition which I will be curating, centered around thirteen recent pieces. In addition, Olivier Van Herpt has designed a 3D printer for ceramics that we have just acquired; it seemed important to me to extend this collaboration by welcoming the artist into our workshops (in 2020), as well as the “Young Talents” prize awarded to the duo Baptiste Sévin and Jaïna Ennequin. Creating a bridge between Vallauris and Cognac is a crazy project, but the earth medium has always been an added value in these two regions. Regarding the Francofolies in La Rochelle, since the beginning of our existence we wanted to create a link with the sea, with travel, and with displacement. Joining the Francofolies is a great opportunity. Yann Rabanier is a photographer whom I have known for a very long time and whose vision I really like. I suggested to him that he work on the notion of exhaustion: showing these singers at the edge of a cliff after a performance, like great athletes after extreme effort. I wanted him to grasp the intensity of having shared something strong, so emotional, so loving, so alive, that words and music convey. La Rochelle is a destination for us, it is a great opportunity that Gérard Pont gave to us. Finally, the Abbaye aux Dames in Saintes, the Biennale de Vallauris and the Francofolies in La Rochelle are all partners who reinforce the territorial roots that we wish to develop in Nouvelle-Aquitaine.
The next Autumn-Winter marks a new stage, with the opening of the “Ateliers du faire” on the first floor of the building: creators (glass, wood, ceramics, paper, fabric) will be invited to dialogue together in the context of residencies. How and why did this project emerge, and in what form will the visitors encounter it?
The project was born out of our desire to have residencies at the Foundation, because it seems essential to us that creators move to Cognac and create in situ. Also, the fact that creators may find, without necessarily choosing, one another, and can dialogue together about other skills and know-how which they may know little or not at all: this interested us. We wanted to develop a place where creation is valued with old techniques, but with the idea of a creative laboratory. A musician with a master glassmaker, a ceramist with a circus performer... Our ambition is to reforge the memory of this building as a tool of production: formerly industrial, it is now turned to contemporary creations.
The opening of the Foundation has put a spotlight on the city of Cognac, expanding and consolidating its potential attraction. What are the interactions with the municipality and private players?
The municipality supports us through digital communication, as well as loaning us plants or furniture... All these elements are important for us. As for the private cultural sector, we have not established partnerships for the moment, but we have benevolent interactions with each other. Certain “Maisons” come to our events, and we go to theirs. It is an essential exchange in order to get to know and appreciate what each person does for the city, the region, and for its success in cultural matters.
“L’Ombre de la vapeur”, Martell Foundation, until November, Cognac, France.