METZ.- In an age when geo-location, interactive maps, or just a simple click can transport you across space, what has happened to our cartographic sensibility? 49 Nord 6 Est covers up the tracks and takes you on a springtime walk... of the mind. Against the grain of every cartographic grammar, the 19 featured artists make a point of deconstructing the Western mappa mundi, and invite you to step into an imagined or forgotten elsewhere.

Bringing together over 30 works (belonging mainly to the 49 Nord 6 Est collection), these "sensitive zones" are deconstructed (M. Vatamanu & F. Tudor), decentered (K. Ströbel), recited (B. Heidsieck), reordered (K. Pieroth), and renamed (D. Renaud), tactile (J. Kaeppelin, J. Discrit), epidermic (J. Blau), and imaginary (Y. Ono), in order to remind us that any cartographic representation is but a subjective projection in the form of an image, likely to disperse in a cloud of dust (N. Oranniwesna).

From the very heart of a fragmented regional territory comes the following proposition: the first attempt at charting a new, expanded horizon. Since there is no c(h)art without a trac(e), why not imagine an aroma of Grand Est and get on the scent? An olfactory entity tied to, and designed for, the inhabitants: this is what the artist-in-residence, Julie Fortier, is going to try to achieve in partnership with the Centre International d'Art Verrier (International Center for Glass Art) in Meisenthal.

Brought into perspective by the cartographer's dream (Philippe Rekacewicz), the exhibition has been complemented by urban strolls to discover gendered spaces or islands of solidarity. Screenings, meetings, and workshops will offer the public opportunities to engage in sensible, collective explorations of space.