CIPAC / THE FRENCH FEDERATION OF CONTEMPORARY ART PROFESSIONALS
The CIPAC is an association composed of 25 organisations representative of the professionals involved in the field of contemporary art. Its objective is to foster the development of and support for the life of contemporary art in France. In this perspective, the association constitutes a permanent platform for reflection, exchange and proposal-making around issues that are considered essential by those involved in contemporary art, organising regular congresses and commissioning studies.
A regular meeting point for those involved professionally in the world of contemporary art – artists, dealers, collectors, patrons of the arts – the CIPAC also includes officials from various levels of government and institutions in its activities. The on-going nature of the CIPAC’s initiatives, in the framework of the workgroups held prior to and following the congresses themselves, highlights the CIPAC as a watchdog organisation attentive to the goings-on in the contemporary-art milieu, with the aim of putting forth concrete proposals in our lines of work.
The congresses themselves are the emerging tips of the CIPAC’s activity. They are moments of exchange and focus debate on the realities of an entire sector of activity. Bringing together directors of art centres, museums, public collections and art schools, dealers, librarians and managers of art-lending libraries, publishers and art critics, teachers, mediators, technical managers, art-restoration specialists, auctioneers, collectors, artists, elected officials and other representatives of various levels of government, the CIPAC congresses seek to afford increased visibility – both politically, economically, socially and culturally – to the various issues affecting the field of contemporary creation. As work sessions, they reach out primarily to professionals and to decision-makers, though they remain more broadly open to all those concerned by the issues of contemporary creation.
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THE CIPAC CONGRESSES
Ten years ago now, contemporary art professionals felt the need to meet regularly in order to exchange their points of view and compare their experiences.Less a reaction to budgetary cutbacks or the ups and downs of the art market, it was above all the lack of any meeting ground around the work being produced by living artists that was the key issue behind this initiative. The idea of bringing together the fullrange of the professions involved in contemporary art stemmed from this awareness.
In October 1996, the first inter-professional contemporary-art congress was held in Tours, focusing on a broadly shared and highly topical question : “Art, a public affair.” Encouraged by successfully bringing together more than a thousand people, a second congress was organised in November 1998, seeking to investigate another fundamental theme : “Art, a necessary education.” The third congress, organised in Nantes in November 2001, attracted some 1500 actors from the contemporary-art world, around the theme : “Art, artists and professions.” The fourth congress was in Metz, on 27-28 November 2003, and will focus on the theme : “ The European Challenge in Contemporary Art. Exchange and Co-operation.” Four years later, in 2007 at Lyon, the fith congress was titled “Art must be an event ?” for two days of inspiring proceedings.
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MEMBERS OF THE CIPAC
Today, 25 professional organisations are members of the CIPAC, representing several hundred artistic structures, and several thousand people working in the field of contemporary art :
Association of structures devoted to contemporary art in the
Brittany region –
a.c.bAssociation for
the development and
research of art
lending libraries –
ADRAFrench association
of managers
of artworks –
AFROA
International association
of art
critics,
french section –
AICA FranceNational association
of fine-art
schools –
ANDÉAAssociation of public fine-art schools “preparatory classes” –
APPEAAssociation of residencies for artists, curators, art critics –
Art en RésidenceAssociation of fine-art schools libraries – BEAR
National association of professionals in contemporary art mediation – BLA !
Association of contemporary art curators –
CEAFrench art dealers association –
CPGANational co-ordination of art-school instructors –
CNEEANational association of art centers –
DCAFrench federation of curators and restoration workers –
FFCRAssociations of structures devoted to contemporary art in the
Lorraine region – LORAAssociation of structures devoted to contemporary art in Aix-Marseille Provence area –
Marseille exposThe french regional contemporary art funds association –
PlatformAssociation of structures devoted to contemporary photography –
Réseau DiagonalAssociation of Paris and Ile-de-France contemporary art structures –
TramAssociation of the region Limousin contemporary art structures –
Cinq/25Association of the côte d’azur (south of France) contemporary art structures –
BOTOX(S)Association of the region Alsace contemporary art structures –
VERSANT ESTAssociations of structures devoted to contemporary art within the Euroregional territory of the North of France –
50° nord_
CONTACT
CIPAC
32 rue Yves Toudic
75010 Paris
FRANCE
Tel : 331 44 79 10 85
Mail : cipac@cipac.net
