At CRAC Alsace and Le Crédac, we share a strong desire to exchange ideas, collaborate, and open up our working methods. One day, we brought to the table the Temple of Friendship, located at 20 rue Jacob in Paris, inhabited by the American writer Natalie Clifford Barney from 1908 to 1972. This temple and its garden continue to fascinate us. They were once the setting of an influential literary salon—home to extravagant parties, spirited discussions, passionate encounters, and timeless friendships. We recognize these same bonds of complicity with artists and their works. Friendship gives our practices a unique experience of art. It offers a space to think, to create, to connect. Friendship prompts us to push open doors—the doors of the garden at the Temple of Friendship.
From reading Natalie Clifford Barney’s poem At the Temple of Friendship, one phrase continues to resonate within us: “Friendship: that trembling.”* Near the trembling poplar, we sense bodies, laughter, relationships. Bodies sway, laughter bursts forth, and the poplar quivers; in passing, a snail: “Like the snail’s shell, our friendship grows by another circle each year.”** One more circle.
Considering friendship more as a method than as a subject, it shapes an exhibition that spans our two art centers—scaffolded collectively with the artists, their friends, and the shared energy that resolutely drives us. In doing so, we give free rein to a plurality of voices—among which we invite you to add your own.
Curator: les équipes du CRAC Alsace et du Crédac
Participants: Boris Achour (avec Émilie Renard), Noémie Bablet, Caroline Bachmann, Anna Byskov (avec Bertil Byskov, Margaret Byskov, Camila Farina et Sophie Lamm), Thomas Cap de Ville, Caretto & Spagna, Lola Gonzàlez, Donna Gottschalk, Tom Hallet, Eric Hattan (avec Silvia Bächli, Rut Himmelsbach, Guido Nussbaum, Hannah Villiger et Anna Winteler), Dorothy Iannone et Sarah Pucci, Youri Johnson, Edit Oderbolz, Hatice Pinarbaşi (avec Aram Abbas, Zahna Siham Benamor, Hugo Ferretto et Elif Pinarbaşi), Marthe Ramm Fortun, Marnie Slater (avec Robin Brettar, Matilda Cobanli, Judith Geerts, Jessica Gysel, Katja Mater et Clare Noonan) et Sarah Tritz.
