Association | Normandie | Lumières Nordiques

General curator of the project

Gabriel et Chantal Bauret

Editorial secretary of the magazine Zoom from 1980 to 1984. Editor in chief of the magazine Camera International until 1993. Today, he mounts exhibitions in France (the Rencontres d’Arles, the European House of Photography, the Dutch Institute, the Italian Cultural Institute, The House of Latin America in Paris, the Arab World Institute…) and abroad (Germany, Great-Britain, Spain, The USA, Greece, Italy, Japan, Luxemburg, The Netherlands, Switzerland). He has also written books on photography and prefaced numerous monographs (among others for the following: Editions du Chêne, La Martinière, Assouline, Gallimard, Actes Sud, Filigranes…). The artistic representative of the Mois de la Photo in Paris in 2006, he regularly organizes exhibits within the frame of this happening. Artistic co-director of the Transphotographiques in Lille in 2010 and 2011. Has recently worked on various and different pieces by Shoji Ueda, Peter Knapp, Lucien Clergue, Roman Cieslewicz, Daido Moriyama, Giorgia Fiorio, Sacha, Gabriele Basilico, Bernard Plossu, or Jesse A. Fernández. Curator of an exhibition concerning “The Great War Remembered” for the Mois de la Photo in 2014 and in 2015 for the First Biennal of the contemporary Arab world for the MEP and the IMA (an assignment renewed in 2017 and 2019). Supervises a photographic mission on the heritage of the city of Reims. (2016) as well as on the river Seine, for the Mois de la Photo of Greater Paris (April 2017). Consultant for the Award in Photography of the Jean-Luc Lagardère Foundation. Curator in 2021 and 2022 of a Robert Doisneau touring exhibition in Italy and author of a book on his work published by Silvana Editoriale.

PRESIDENCY OF THE ASSOCIATION

Sonja Martinsson Uppman worked in the Museum of Modern Arts in Stockholm (Moderna Museet) with Pontus Hulten before the latter was appointed the first curator of the Modern art museum at the Pompidou Centre (Paris). In the early years of the seventies, she left Sweden for Latin America and was living in Chili at the time of the political coup in September 1973. She worked then as a diplomat and participated in the evacuation towards Sweden of endangered persons. She left Chili and worked for Havana Cuba Radio.; and then, she returned to Sweden. She held several positions linked to cultural and international relations. In 1994, she was appointed Director of the Swedish Cultural Center in Paris, a position she occupied for 8 years. From 1998 to 2004, she was also the president of the National Foundation of Plastic Arts in Sweden. Today, she lives in Paris.

Communication, publishing and partnerships

Benoît Eliot, editor, graphist and photographer was special adviser for the “Normandy Impressionist” festival in 2016. Over the past twenty years he has also been involved with most of the museums and cultural centers in Normandy. After co-directing for 15 years the editions Point de vues, in 2016 he created “OCTOPUS”, a company dealing with edition, graphical design and digital mediation.

Scouting and coordination

Véronique Mange was until 2015 in charge of exhibitions (programming and implementation) for the department of Seine-Maritime.

Jumieges Abbey

Founded in 654 by Saint Philibert with the blessing of King Clovis II and Queen Bathild, Jumièges Abbey soon prospered.

It fell into disuse for some time following the Viking raids, but from 940 onwards became one of the great centres of wisdom during the religious and cultural renaissance in Normandy. The abbey survived the Hundred Years' War and the Wars of Religion before eventually being sold off as a 'national asset' during the French Revolution as a stone quarry and subsequently became no more than a ruin.

It was purchased by the government in 1946 and ownership was transferred to the Département de la Seine-Maritime in 2007. Every year, it receives approximately 80,000 visitors from all over the world.

Two photographers, Olivier Verley and Bernard Plossu, were asked to produce series of photographs with a personalised view on the abbey and which were exhibited in 2009 and 2012.

In spring 2013, the former abbots' residence, the Logis abbatial, was opened to the public.

The Département de la Seine-Maritime have hosted numerous prestigious exhibitions here as part of their ongoing policy of supporting the visual arts. These include: “En/quête d'identité”, in partnership with la Maison européene de la photographie, “Paysage”, by Henri Cartier-Bresson and “Portrait de la France en vacances”, both organised in partnership with MAGNUM Photos, as well as Jean Gaumy’s “La tentation du paysage” and Gabriele Basilico’s “Beirut 1991”. The abbey's magnificent lapidary collection is also displayed here as a way of creating a dialogue between contemporary creativity and these important examples of Medieval art.

MATMUT CONTEMPORARY ART CENTER - DANIEL HAVIS

Situated 20 minutes from Rouen in Saint-Pierre-de-Varengeville, Matmut’s contemporary art centre (CAC) annually hosts four exhibitions by artists of both national and international standing.

The CAC has become over time a reference point for the promotion of photography, as well as contemporary art in general. It endeavours to produce or co-produce photography exhibitions furthering the diversity and extreme vivacity of the current artistic scene.

To this end, following on from exhibitions by Jean Gaumy, Charles Freger and Rune Guneriussen the work of Florence Chevallier, Nils Udo, Denis Darzacq and Bae Bien-U will be displayed.

Swedish Institute

The Swedish Institute, a small piece of Sweden in the heart of Paris, is the only cultural centre that Sweden has abroad. Plastic arts, design, cinema, music, literature... The Swedish Institute is a place of exchange between France and Sweden which raises important questions for tomorrow's society through its multidisciplinary programming.

Housed in one of the most beautiful private mansions in Paris, the Swedish Institute offers each year numerous exhibitions, meetings and other activities to the French as well as to tourists visiting one of the most cultural districts of the capital. At the same time, the permanent art exhibition traces the Franco-Swedish relationship of the last few centuries in paintings, sculptures and engravings.

The courtyard and garden of the Hôtel de Marle are open to the public. The Swedish Institute offers some of its cultural activities there: summer library, open-air cinema, music festival, contemporary art installations, etc. The FIKA café occupies one of the wings of the Hôtel and its terrace in the cobbled courtyard invites visitors to settle in