Biennale internationale d'art contemporain

The city of Melle is unique because of the presence of its mines and its mint that have placed it in the heart of Europe for centuries. This specificity of the city seemed to us a very contemporary angle that allowed us to approach subjects such as money, the exchange, the circulation, the value but also the stone and the ore.

With "Le Grand Monnayage" we had this desire to tell stories and share experiences. Melle is a source of inspiration. Here, no white cubes, but a multitude of heritage places open to artists and visitors: three Romanesque churches, one of which was a prison, a former tribunal that inspired Jean de La Fontaine, and silver mines, forgotten for several centuries. Melle was, at some point, the city whose production of money and coins was the largest in all Western Europe in the time of Charlemagne and until the tenth century.

Driven by the stories of each place, the artists completely invested themselves in this adventure. Fascinated by the mines, by walking in the streets of Melle, they took advantage of this unique setting and exchange, they made the city a place of projects and production, a territory of art.

The biennale is taking place in Melle from June 30 to September 23, 2018.

Chloé Hipeau-Disko and Frédéric Legros