MONTPELLIER.- Montpellier Contemporain (MOCO) is an arts ecosystem, ranging from arts training related activities to art collections. The model is unique to Montpellier and encompasses an arts school and two exhibition centres: ESBA (Montpellier Art School), La Panacée, Contemporary Art Centre and, from today, MOCO Hôtel des collections, an exhibition centre for public or private international collections.

Coinciding with the inauguration of the Hôtel des collections on June 29, the MOCO unveils the first public presentation of masterpieces from the Ishikawa Collection. This outstanding and relatively recent private collection begun in 2011 by Yasuharu Ishikawa, a Japanese entrepreneur born in 1970 at Okayama, is characterized by exceptional coherence and a Japanese feel that derives primarily from its emphasis on minimal, understated, subtle forms.

On this occasion, the exhibition The Street. Where the world is made. is also presented at La Panacée. Also, 100 artists in the city - ZAT 2019, an outdoor exhibition right to the heart of Montpellier.

Ideally located, MOCO now serves as the main headquarters for Montpellier Contemporary. Inaugurated in June 2019 in the former Montcalm Hôtel, MOCO is now Montpellier’s cultural platform.

The centre will not exhibit permanent collections but will host international public and private collections. Whether collective, individual, themed or historical, each exhibition will show a specific collection: that of a foundation, a private collector, a company, a museum or even an artist. Most collections will be shown to the general public here for the first time.

A stimulating place for living, open to all
Modern and cosmopolitan, MOCO offers audiences of all types the opportunity to fully engage with modern-day art.

MOCO has been designed as a place in which to spend time and, beyond the exhibitions themselves, a place for the general public as a whole, whatever their age, to enjoy. Indeed, the ground-floor restaurant, gardens and boutique (renewed seasonally), are warm and welcoming and punctuate Montpellier’s day and night life.

A partnership has also been launched with Montpellier’s Paul Valéry University and its network of researchers, to set up an international research centre on the concept of collection, in all its diversity.

Works of art, freely accessible to all
Alongside the temporary exhibitions, the venue is also dedicated to hosting the work of artists directly related to the architecture of the building. This approach was an integral and essential component in Philippe Chiambaretta’s project: in his own words, “the magical rebirth of MOCO (formerly, Montcalm Hôtel) through the artistic transformation of functional to fictional. The fiction unravels in three sequences: the Magic Garden, the Enchanted Hôtel and the Cour des Fêtes.”

1. The magic garden, an atlas-garden designed by Bertrand Lavier
Bertrand Lavier, who was entrusted with the creation of a permanent work outdoors, has crafted a garden in the form of a world map, composed of plant species from the four corners of the globe, all lovingly selected with gardener, landscaper, botanist and biologist, Gilles Clément. The project is all about taking time, the natural time required for the seasonal evolution of plants: planting, growing and evolving, peaceful animals only, no predators, slowly does it here... two turtles inhabit this natural living environment.

The garden has been divided into two parts: one part can be entered, and the other not. Signage designed by Bertrand Lavier echoes the former labelling codes of botanical gardens. A fountain designed by the artist, graces the centre of the planted atlas.

The garden, specially designed for MOCO, is the first ever made by the artist.

2. The enchanted Hôtel: artistic happenings around the building
Along with the garden, the refurbished building will host two artistic happenings: one in the restaurant/bar area, the other in the gardens, on the façade.

• Restaurant/bar area. The Unplayed Notes Factory by Loris Gréaud The Unplayed Notes Factory was born during the 2017 Venice Biennale, of Loris Gréaud’s project to revive a former glass factory on the island of Murano by launching production of 1,200 filament lamps, all handblown and unique. Brought to life again for the launch of MOCO, Loris Gréaud’s works, with their cloud-like, luminescent forms, will cover the ceiling of the future bar of the Hôtel des collections, thus enhancing an area designed for sharing and hospitality

• Cour des Fêtes, a flexible, city-centre events venue Finally, MOCO also offers a flexible space which can be transformed at will (artists, students, businesses, charities...). The 640m² Cours des Fêtes, located at the rear of the building, is a fully-fledged events venue, which can be reinvented with MOCO’s artistic programming. The Cour des Fêtes can also be fully privatized for corporate customer and/or staff hospitality events in a unique, timeless setting, charged with the values of innovation embodied by contemporary art.