The Museum of European and Mediterranean Civilisations (Musée des civilisations de l’Europe et de la Méditerranée — MuCEM) is a ground-breaking project for the Mediterranean region of the 21st century.

With an exceptional location overlooking the entrance to the Vieux Port, the MuCEM incorporates the Fort Saint-Jean, a historical site spanning 15,000 m2, and a new 17,000 m2 building constructed by architect Rudy Ricciotti on the J4 pier. Both sites will be linked by a pedestrian bridge of 115 m.

The MuCEM will open its doors in 2013, at the time when Marseille will be the European Capital of Culture.

Diane JUNQUA /  diane@claudinecolin.com

On the ground floor of the J4, the Gallery of the Mediterranean offers a unique perspective on the history of civilisations of the Mediterranean Basin.

Invention and expansion of agriculture, monotheisms, citizenship and human rights, travel and major discoveries, constitute the four thematic axes of a transversal and multidisciplinary itinerary for the discovery of the Mediterranean world.

The exhibition unveils objects from diverse periods, origins and styles: archaeological pieces, testaments of daily life, sculptures, paintings, and contemporary art (Cristina Lucas, Michelangelo Pistoletto, Jacques Monory, Barthélémy Toguo…).

This original selection highlights certain key issues of the contemporary world: the environment, human rights, and relations with the Other

Diane JUNQUA / diane@claudinecolin.com

The first international exhibition at the Louvre-Lens aims to shed light on Rubens’ time through over 170 works by the artist, by his models and by some of his contemporaries, from the Louvre’s collections and from leading European and American museums.

Reflecting the European artistic culture that mattered to Rubens, the exhibition includes paintings, drawings, sculptures and decorative arts. It aims to reproduce the dynamism of Rubens’ creative output and conveys the spectacular nature of his inspiration. It also offers a few intimate moments, revealing a more personal side to Rubens.

Diane JUNQUA

T: + 33 (0) 1 42 72 60 01

T: + 33 (0) 6 45 03 16 89

diane@claudinecolin.com

For its 22nd edition, the International Garden Festival invites once again designers from all over the world to come up with the most amazing projects imaginable. In 2013, visitors will be in for a whole host of surprises around the theme Gardens of sensations, contemporary synaesthesia.

Ingrid Cadoret / ingrid@claudinecolin.com

Victoire Birembaux / victoire@claudinecolin.com

At the end of his life, Monet wrote: "I owe everything to Boudin". For the first time since 1899, a Parisian institution is organising a retrospective exhibition of paintings, pastels and watercolours by this pioneer of Impressionism. This unique event is possible thanks to exceptional loans from the largest American museums (National Gallery in Washington, Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, etc.).

Starting on 8 March 2013, the monumental Carrières de Lumières in Baux-de-Provence will be the venue for a brand new show entitled Monet, Renoir... Chagall. Voyages en Méditerranée (Journeys around the Mediterranean). With Marseille-Provence 2013 endorsement, this show will be using multimedia capability as a vehicle to convey emotion and invite visitors to wander freely around the quarries following the variations of 16 great artists on the subject of the Mediterranean. It will take us from one movement to the next in a long journey to the heart of pictorial modernity, on the shores depicted by Impressionism, Pointillism and Fauvism... up to Chagall. 

Marseille-Provence has been selected to be the European Capital of Culture in 2013. All year long, hundreds of cultural and artistic events will take place throughout the Provence region: in Aix-en-Provence, Arles, Aubagne, Gardanne, Istres, La Ciotat, Martigues, Salon-de-Provence and, of course, Marseille.

On the menu: dance, music, visual arts, theatre, exhibitions, street art, literature, digital art, gastronomy and cinema.

Visitors will be invited to take part in events at museums, theatres and open-air venues in both urban areas and natural environments. Marseille-Provence 2013: an unmissable event.

Diane JUNQUA / diane@claudinecolin.com

Lens, Pas-de-Calais

The implantation in Lens (Pas-de-Calais) of one of the most famous museums in the world, demonstrates the Louvre’s strong commitment for the decentralization and democratization of culture. The Japanese agency SANAA (Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizaw), winner of the 2010 Pritzker Prize, museographer Adrien Gardère, landscape designer Catherine Mosbach designed the new Louvre-Lens. Designing a low structure, which is airy, fluid and accessible, the building is harmoniously integrated into the site without crushing it by its presence. Covering an area of 28,000 m2 (301,390 sq ft), the structure consists of five main glass and metal buildings, which opens out on an exceptional natural environment of 20 hectares. 

The museum will have two semi-permanent exhibition spaces: the Great Gallery and the Glass Pavilion. Within the Great Gallery, the Gallery of Time will present masterpieces from the Louvre collections in a chronological and transversal manner, reflecting the history of art from the 4th millennium BC to the middle of the 19th century. Among the highlights are Liberty Leading the People (1830) by Eugène Delacroix, Portrait of Baldassare Castiglione (1514-1515) by Raphael, Mary Magdalene with a Night Light (c. 1640–45) by Georges de La Tour. The Glass Pavilion, located after the Gallery of Time, will offer an additional exhibition space to welcome related thematic exhibitions.

The inaugural exhibition “Renaissance” will present in the Exhibitions Wing, major artworks of the greatest masters of the Renaissance (Raphael, Mantegna, Pisanello, Jan van Eyck, Albrecht Dürer, Lucas Cranach...)

Following the exceptional donation by Severin Wunderman of 1525 works of Jean Cocteau and his entourage, after three years of construction works, the Jean Cocteau Museum - Severin Wunderman Collection, a major cultural project led by the town of Menton, opens this autumn. The building will be created by the international architect, Rudy Ricciotti.

The museum will become the world's first and most important public resource for the work of Jean Cocteau.

Albane Champey / albane@claudinecolin.com