Welcoming Centre Pompidou exhibition at West Bund Museum
Inviting Adults and Children into the immersive adventure of “Passing Through”
A magical forest defying the rules of proportions
A journey of fun and adventure, like Alice in Wonderland
A playground for people of all ages to enjoy
West Bund Museum inaugurated the exhibition-workshop Passing Through - a Playground dedicated to children and their families. As part of the “Centre Pompidou x West Bund Museum Project”, French artist Françoise Pétrovitch, by invitation of Centre Pompidou, has proposed the exhibition-workshop for the Playground of the Creativity Gallery. Passing through has been presented at Centre Pompidou from October 2019 to March 2020.
Passing Through, exhibition view, West Bund Museum
Françoise Pétrovitch noted: It was a very exciting project as I had never done anything like it before. Working on it was most interesting as it allowed me to introduce myself in a more global project, with the ambition of sharing and transmitting my work to younger visitors.
Pétrovitch excels at sketching the vivid images of people, plants, birds, animals and insects using bright colours and varying lines, revealing a world filled with uncertainty that lingers between childhood and puberty. This time, the familiar characters from her artistic world come to life in three dimensions which you can “pass through”.
Passing Through, exhibition view, West Bund Museum
An adventure beyond your imagination begins as soon you enter the Playground. Over a dozen out-of-the-ordinary characters form a dreamlike forest, such as a giant red figure with an intense expression and a mysterious smile, a three-metre tall mushroom, a tiny marmoset, a giant glove, heads of fawns and snowmen are waiting for you to discover. You will feel very small in the midst of these giant figures! Like Alice, through the “rabbit hole” to the wonderland, and surprised by changes in scale and reversed points of view.
Children and their families can engage in an infinite game of hide and seek in this magical forest and explore ways to take photographs with the animals, plants and characters. There are magnetic tiles with images of various kinds for visitors to create their own characters through different combinations. Or they can follow the stickers on the ground to experience the world from the perspective of an ant. Kids can draw as their imagination takes them, as a way to capture their magical journey at the museum.
Passing Through, exhibition view, West Bund Museum
With this exhibition, Françoise Pétrovitch questions the idea of the individual or family portrait, whether funny, grotesque, fantastical or neutral. And the museum invites every young-at-heart visitor to explore this space full of artistic delights, who can enjoy an experience that “Passes Through” back to their childhood.
To continue the experience of this tour, different workshops are organized around the exhibition, where children and their family are invited to unleash their imagination and transform their immersive experience into artistic creations. How does the chemistry work between the creative workshops and the characters from the exhibition? Come and find out at the museum!