Founded by Parisian Romain Chenais and L.A. expat Jason Hwang in 2011, independent exhibition space Shanaynay has invigorated the cultural scene in Paris’s 20th Arrondissement with a steady flow of curated shows featuring artists such as Kirsten Pieroth, Nina Canell, and Liam Gillik, as well as many lesser-known artists. For its Art Berlin Contemporary project, “Upcoming Exhibitions,” Shanaynay has devised an innovative exhibition format, giving 14 international project spaces — Cleopatra’s, Ohio, Generation Works, Gasconade, 1857, Bétonsalon, Am Nuden Da, Treize, Works Sited, The Ister, Auto Italia South East, Lulu, Peles Empire, and New Theater — a two-hour slot on a specially designed stage to do essentially as they please. Alexander Forbes talked to Chenais and Hwang about the decisions behind their innovative offering.
Your project for ABC is an unconventional take on exhibition-making, with its time limit for each space. Was that a practical or curatorial decision?
In one sense a practical choice, in that we wanted to establish the possibility for an exhibition space to wholly exist for the duration of ABC, and the two-hour structure allowed for this. But we also considered the idea that project spaces might have a different relation to time than institutions or galleries, which could be manifested into a structure for exhibiting. But the idea also comes from certain precedents, “Il Tempo Del Postino” by HUO and Philippe Parreno, and the “One Hour Long Exhibition” by Marie Lund, Francesco Pedraglio, and Chosil Kil, to name a few. In reference to “Il Tempo,” we very much considered the setting at ABC and came to the conclusion that if we were to constitute a space of exhibition within this setting it would have to be staged in some manner. In this regard, both the physical space — built by Berlin-based architects June14 — and the time format allude to this.
What were your criteria for inviting the participants?
We have worked with some of the invited spaces before, such as Am Nuden Da, or Works Sited, or with individuals involved in invited spaces. The spaces we have chosen, in many ways, could exist as precedents for a new space [outside the gallery model]. They are functioning models that for us constitute a variety of new and different approaches to exhibition-making. They are what we pay attention to now and what we look forward to seeing in the future.
Is this your first time working with a fair?
We introduced Shanaynay Tours earlier this month at Art-O-RAMA in Marseille. It was an ideal setting for us to introduce it, due to Art-O-RAMA’s specific commercial aspirations as well as the status of Marseille in terms of the tourism industry. We worked with five artists in Marseille to develop guided tours led by artists in Marseille. Mathis Colins, Jean-Marie Appriou, Claire Dantzer, Charlotte Cosson et Emmanuelle Luciani, and Ornic’art created tours ranging from a Sculpture/visit, a private fresco, a bridge, and an experience of urban resistance.
Where do you guys draw a line, if at all, between the market and being a project space?
We try not to view a project space as something that exists outside of commerce. For us to constitute this distinction would be to assume the possibility of a realm of art without commerce altogether, which requires a more comprehensive political endeavor. Rather than employing an art market paradigm/paradox as a framework for viewing spaces of exhibition, we try to look at each space and how they might function in terms of methodology, research, experimentation, and as an archive. In terms of economy, all spaces of exhibition must deal with this fact, and at times the distinctions between project spaces, artist-run spaces, non-commercial / commercial institutions, and galleries can be very thin.
