Aurore Bagarry (1982) invites us to travel far away from the beaten track, far beyond the mere representation of the landscape. When we look at her photographs, we are not looking at picturesque views, but are plunged into timescapes, tableaux where geology evolves in a silent choreography, and where the passing of eras is sculpted by the light.

Through her iconic series, from the majestic ‘Glaciers’ to the raw ‘Rocks’ via the evolving expanses of ‘From the Coast’, Aurore Bagarry does not capture the moment, she reveals its full extent. Her demanding and meditative use of the photographic chamber slows down the work, imposing a patience that impacts on the image itself. The infinitesimal details of the rock strata, the texture chiselled by the elements, the nuanced colours revealed by the dawn or dusk, all contribute to a profound, almost tactile, sensory experience. It is no longer the eye alone that perceives, it is the whole body that feels the power of the forces in the work.

The artist deploys reflection on the constant flux of the world. Her coastlines, swept by the tides, reveal porous borders and shapes of monumental fragility. In the place where land and sea meet, ceaselessly eroding and transforming each other, Aurore Bagarry questions our place in the face of these vast timescales. She reminds us that landscape is written collectively, carved out by water, wind and the shifting plates of the earth, long before any human intervention.

As we contemplate her works, we are encouraged to feel our humility in the face of geological time, to become aware of the ephemeral nature of our own scale. The artist does not seek to tame nature, but to resonate with it, and to grasp its very essence: raw beauty, tranquil force, and constant reinvention. The Aurore Bagarry exhibition immerses us in the matter making up the world, in an intimate dialogue with the elements making up our planet, inviting us to look beyond the surface, and see where time takes physical shape.

The Aurore Bagarry exhibition is further enhanced by a unique voice, that of the artist Vava Dudu (1970). Invited to cast her eye over the ‘coasts’ of Aurore Bagarry, Vava Dudu takes us to other shores, those of the Caribbean, via a poetic and sensory exploration. Her words are woven from the sensations and rhythms of the island, and converse with the mineral and temporal qualities of the photographic images. This unique gesture invites us to see how land and sea, whether polar or tropical, murmur universal stories, transformed by the prism of vibrant responsiveness.

The Pulsar exhibition invites us to reflect in depth on the notion of tradition through the works of Mounir Ayache (1991) and Sara Ouhaddou (1986). Although both are rooted in a rich cultural heritage, their approaches show markedly different interpretations, with one reinventing the very concept of tradition, and the other ensuring the continuance of ancestral knowledge. Their works resonate with philosophical questioning around collective memory, the persistence of knowledge and the emergence of new cultural forms. At the heart of the exhibition is a new work made by 4 hands, entitled Pulsar – a reference to the heart of a fallen star that continues to emit light – bridging the gap between the practices of these two artists.

Mounir Ayache approaches tradition not as a fixed set of rules or forms to be repeated, but as a field of infinite potential, open to reinterpretation. His work is characterised by a bold deconstruction and reconstruction of established codes, including in particular references to science-fiction. Following on from the reflections on dynamic cultural identities proposed by thinkers such as Stuart Hall (1932-2014), Ayache shows us that what we perceive as ancient is often a malleable construction, capable of being remodelled by the present. He has no hesitation in taking traditional motifs, techniques or stories and bringing them in contact with contemporary language or inserting them into new contexts, thereby infusing them with unexpected vitality. For Ayache, tradition is a living entity enriched by the dialogues it enters into with the present, embracing a form of cultural hybridity close to the hearts of philosophers like Kwame Anthony Appiah (1954). His works invite us to question our own perceptions of cultural heritage and see tradition as a driving force of innovation, capable of endless renewal.

In contrast, Sara Ouhaddou positions herself as a transmitter of ancient knowledge. Her art is deeply rooted in ancestral artisanal techniques, often passed down from one generation to the next. Her approach is far removed from mere reproduction, but rather involves transmission and updating. She collaborates with artisans, immerses herself in their practices and contributes to the conservation of activities and knowledge which, as so well emphasised by the Malian writer Amadou Hampâté Bâ (1901-1991) when he speaks of African oral traditions, constitute real living libraries. This knowledge is the collective memory of a community, allowing techniques and story to continue existing through the ages. The work of Ouhaddou highlights the richness and complexity of these artisanal traditions, and demonstrates how the continuance of such knowledge is not only essential to the preservation of material heritage, but also to the continuity of intangible and identity heritage. Her work provides eloquent testimony to tradition’s ability to endure and adapt, while retaining its essence and depth, embodying a persistence essential to cultural vitality.

Together, these artists show us that tradition is not a monolithic bloc, but a pluralist concept, under constant evolution. It can be the source of inspiration for the most radical experimentation, just as it can embody the tranquil force of uninterrupted continuity. Their dialogue invites us to celebrate the richness of our past while embracing the transformations necessary to build the future, thus offering a complex and enriching vision of our relationship with heritage.

The exhibition LEADER PRIDE 2 brings together works by H·Alix Sanyas (1988) and the Belgian-French collective, Bye Bye Binary. Bye Bye Binary was formed is 2018 during workshops held jointly by the École de Recherche Graphique (erg) (School of Graphic Research) and La Cambre visual arts school in Brussels, and defines itself as a learning experiment, a community, a workshop for typographical creation, a network and an alliance. Their work focusses on the creation of new typographical forms adapted to the French language, especially by designing glyphs and ligatures (and other elements of symbiosis or liaison) which make it possible to express a greater diversity of gender identities beyond the masculine/feminine binary. Their approach is profoundly political and committed, and springs from a perspective that combines numerous struggles. They question the political weighting of graphic design, language, and the representation of bodies and identities.

Specifically, they have developed a range of fonts that are inclusive, non-binary, post-binary under construction, and have created the Queer Unicode Initiative (QUNI) to facilitate the use of these fonts. They also recently drew up the ‘Conditions d’Utilisations Typographiques Engageantes (CUTE) (Conditions for the Committed Use of Typography)’ providing guidelines for their use.

At the centre of the exhibition is a series of banners by the collective Bye Bye Binary which perfectly expresses their approach of making non-binary languages and identities visible. First shown at La Station – Gare des Mines in Paris, these banners are not mere decorative objects, they are manifestos floating in the breeze. By carrying messages in the non-binary inclusive typographies they are developing (like iels [the French alternative to the gendered ils/elles pronouns]}, these banners do not merely talk about inclusivity, they practise it in a very visible, large-format way. The flag, a symbol of power, of belonging to a nation or group, becomes an educational and performative vehicle for their research. By investing it with their queer and non-binary messages, Bye Bye Binary is creating powerful symbolic subversion. They are subverting a tool of hegemony to turn it into a flag of diversity and resistance.

Also exhibited, alongside fanzines and printed objects, is the new installation by H·Alix Sanyas. Produced as part of Nouveau Printemps 2025 in Toulouse, JE VEUX YN PRÉSIDOL is a video installation exploring the representation of LGBTQIA+ desires and struggles through the prism of language and design. The installation takes its inspiration largely from the archives of the American presidential campaign of author Eileen Myles, a figure of the LGBT community and from the poem I want a President by Zoe Leonard. Myles’ candidacy was an unconventional ‘write-in’ campaign (where the elector writes the name of the candidate on the voting paper) and ran under the slogan ‘An Openly Female Candidate’. This approach was at one and the same time an artistic performance project, a protest and a form of political criticism.

After spending 3 months at Passerelle under the joint programme with DDA Bretagne Residency Workshops, Martin Routhe (1994) is presenting a personal exhibition. Martin graduated from Brest School of Art in 2023, is both a painter and a sculptor, and here offers a vast installation that functions as a whole.

The phrase “Where are you?” rings out as both a mantra and a cry. Those few very simple words are taken from some writing by the artist’s grandmother after her husband died. The exhibition takes as its starting point this intimate pain, the impression of emptiness and the metaphysical question of the presence of those who have left us. The works produced especially for the occasion show moments of life; the sculptures have a domestic appearance and recall the codes of furnishings. On the one hand there is the desire to reflect on the question of the decorative, in the manner of the artist Marc-Camille Chaimowicz (1947-2004), and on the other hand the idea of ‘filling the space’ like a doll’s house and seeking a potential soul in the objects that surround us. The works act as elements of non-verbal drama like those of artist Jessica Stockolder (1959). We are invited into an illusion where the borders of reality are blurred: gloves and shoes end up as sculptures, wrought iron door furniture turns into lamps. Objects have the potential for life like those in La belle et la bête (Beauty and the Beast) (1946) by Jean Cocteau or the Disney cartoon of the same name (1991). A single figure occupies the space, a rabbit recalling the one in Alice in Wonderland or Pokemon creatures. Martin Routhe is deeply influenced by the Japanese culture of the image and takes inspiration from the manga of the authors’ collective, CLAMP, in particular the character of Cardcaptor Sakura or the shop of the witch of xxxHOLiC, a timeless imaginary place. The visitor is invited to become a character in a manga, a three-dimensional cartoon, like the pair of legs, loosely inspired by a Tom and Jerry cartoon, landing in the middle of the motifs like a disturbing yet joyful element.

The title ‘Dis-moi que la nuit se déguise (Tell me the night is in disguise)’ is from a song by Mylène Farmer that reasons like a haiku. The poetry of these words takes us back to the reflections preoccupying the artist: What are the limits of our reality? By what artifice are we surrounded?

As an Artist in Residence, a role created and supported by Passerelle and Documents d’artistes Bretagne, Marie Boyer (1997) is exhibiting a series of new works she has produced at Passerelle. She is a graduate of the Quimper campus of the École européenne supérieure d’art de Bretagne (the European Academy of Art in Brittany) and here has developed an astonishing, joyous garden where painting interplays with botany and with the Japanese manga aesthetic.

“There are flowers everywhere for anyone who cares to look,” declared Henri Matisse. This cheesy, rather kitsch quotation might be seen on a box of chocolates or on a sign outside a garden centre, yet it leads to much deeper reflections than might first be apparent, on the role of art and the presence of joy in our lives. That sentence uttered by such a famous painter explains much of the art of Marie Boyer. She sees flowers as “living beings intended to be painted”, as a sort of ideal and perfect motif. Her love of flora partly derives from her family, of whom one side originated on the island of Reunion where plants abound in profusion, and partly from one of her grandfathers on the other side who was passionate about floral composition. He would document flowers by photographing them and carefully classifying them in files which the artist has studied closely.

Marie Boyer is keenly Interested In the history of painting, and is fully aware that flowers are a subject with a particular iconography which have been widely represented by her peers. Understanding the history of art helps her understand her own practice as an artist. She observes the Renaissance painters, is passionate about Jean Siméon Chardin (1699-1779) and Diego Velázquez (1599-1660) while also appreciating more modern and contemporary works from Georgia O’Keeffe (1887-1986) – a lone American painter, indefinable, who fascinates her both for her art and for her life choices – to the duo of Ida Tursic & Wilfried Mille (1974) who plumb the anonymous depths of the Internet. Marie Boyer is interested in what differentiates ‘good painting’ from just daubing paint: is it a matter of technique, positioning or status? She makes herself change style regularly, sometimes between each painting, sometimes after a series; it’s like a need providing sustenance for her work. At Passerelle, she chooses to transpose the flatness of the canvas into space, transforming traditional painting into astonishing sculptures. The rooms of the exhibition become an exuberant garden. The flowers are like characters onto whom the public can project their own desires, hopes and experiences. When Marie Boyer represents bodies, these play a supporting role to the plant motifs. Some of the flowers shown reference fragments from anime of the Japanese manga culture such as Sailor Moon and Cat’s Eyes. Marie Boyer recently explained that “painting is joyous magic that allows you to find infinite ways of representing the world.” This statement is as cheesy yet serious as that of Matisse and reveals the artist’s view that painting is above all a matter of pleasure!

In 1902 the volcano Mount Pelee erupted on the island of Martinique, solidifying its place as the worst volcanic disaster of the 20th century. The eruption killed nearly thirty thousand people and completely destroyed the port town of Saint Pierre. Four decades later, across the Atlantic Ocean, U.S. troops aggressively liberated the German-occupied city of Brest in one of the fiercest battles of World War II. The aftermath was a devastated, rubble-strewn landscape and thousands of casualties. Though the specifics of the two events differ, the outcome was the same: two vibrant cities, full of life, were razed and silenced. The photographic documentation of these calamities left behind emotionally charged and hauntingly captivating images of destruction: hallowed structures, dusty streets framed by bright skies and visible horizons. Beautiful pictures, catastrophic subject matter.

We live in a distinctively divided time, one marked by stark contrasts that coexist inside a universal setting. The dichotomies of red vs. blue, right vs. left, beautiful vs. ugly, disaster vs. triumph, are amplified by media, politics, and visual culture. A compelling image of disaster is often an equally alluring photograph, prompting reflection on the tension between these opposing forces. While there is a human impulse to somehow understand or “convert” the Other, the philosophy of Martinican writer and thinker Édouard Glissant offers an alternative. Glissant emphasizes the power of Opacity, suggesting that peaceful coexistence is a more powerful tool than attempts to transform the Other. As he writes, “Only by understanding that it is impossible to reduce anyone, no matter who, to a truth he would not have generated on his own.” (Opacity, pg 194).

The concept of Opacity, which embraces contrast and dualities, offers a key to understanding the work of Louisa Marajo, Jérémie Paul and Yoan Sorin—three artists of French Caribbean descent currently living and working in France. Their stories, much like the volcanic islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe from which they hail—powerful landmasses rising from the shimmering blue of the Caribbean Sea—are anything but straightforward. Paul, Marajo, and Sorin, like cloudy waters that obscure transparency, navigate two overlapping realms: one rooted in the distant colonial histories of their ancestors, and the other shaped by their current lives within the globalized contemporary art world.

For Louisa Marajo, an ongoing investigation into the biology of Martinique provides a lens through which to view her work. She focuses on the imagery of toxic seagrasses that threaten the island’s coastlines, disrupting both the natural ecosystem and the lives of its inhabitants. Her dynamic installation draws inspiration from the destruction of Brest in 1944 and the continued disintegration of the planet caused by human interference. This reflection on the past offers a poignant, almost prophetic glimpse into the future: if we fail to care for our natural resources, what will remain? Her expansive installation can be interpreted as a wave, a mountain, or simply a force of energy—an evocative gesture to the impacts of climate change and human influence on our fragile Earth.

Jérémie Paul delves into Creole histories, family stories, and emotions, using them as rich sources of inspiration. His practice explores regenerative themes: interpreting dance, musical tones, seascapes, landscapes, and color. Paul’s approach is layered and additive, with each idea building upon the last. Grounded in an understanding of his personal history — who he is now, where he comes from, and the experiences of his family — Paul creates colorful stories of imagined dreamscapes, emotional punctures, and existential refractions.

Yoan Sorin works with found objects, repurposing discarded items — often remnants from previous exhibitions — to offer a self-reflective commentary on the art world, particularly the industry of exhibition-making and the role of museums and art institutions today. Drawing on the resourcefulness of the inhabitants of Martinique and Guadeloupe, shaped by the limited geography and ecology of their environment, Sorin’s practice reflects this spirit of adaptation and reuse. For Sorin, the act of gathering and organizing detritus is both a visual and emotional process, with this dual focus serving as the guiding principle for his installations. Ultimately, he creates environments that engage with the material and emotional resonance of waste.

The works of Marajo, Paul and Sorin come together in conversation, creating a network of ideas that reflects their individual artistic approaches. There is contrast, but here it is acknowledged and embraced. The concept of Opacity opens a door: a pulled-out chair, an invitation for exploration. The result is a space that is neither fully Caribbean, nor fully European, nor entirely independent. Like a beautiful photograph of disaster, the exhibition and its artworks inhabit an interstitial, cloudy space — one where the lack of clarity opens the possibility for hopeful dialogue and contemplation.