At the what? Read on…



No, it’s not a new secret project from Apple. The MAC/VAL is the newest modern art museum in Paris. Well, not in Paris, but very very near Paris. Although Parisians can be unnaturally scared about leaving the city limits (they’re odd that way), people visiting our city from abroad are hopefully a little more bold. The museum is just five minutes outside the city, and the name stands for Musée d’Art Contemporain du Val de Marne (in case you were wondering).

The latest temporary exhibition is called Stardust or The Last Frontier, and it started on the fiftieth anniversary of Sputnik being sent in to space (4th October 1957). Ever since (and even way before that), space and the idea of space travel have fascinated scientists, artists and lowly mortals. In the exhibition, fifty international artists contribute works that show “skies, planets, stars, the milky way, constellation, comets, satellites, supernovas, the Big Bang, black holes, time and space, rockets, astronauts…”. Among the names I recognised Andreas Gursky and Wolfgang Tillmans, but I’m sure you know a lot more of them.

As Frank Lamy, the director of the exhibition says “It’s an attempt to describe the Beyond, and thus also the human condition. It’s about fiction, masks, creating an image, but also about power, conquest, colonialism, and identity…”.

We visited the MAC/VAL shortly after it opened in early 2006 (you can see the photos here), and being a fan of Star Wars, Star Trek and Star Moreorlessanythingelse, this might be the excuse I’ve been waiting for to go back.

Here’s all the essential information to make sure you don’t get lost or eaten by monsters:

Where: MAC/VAL, Musée d’art contemporain du Val-de-Marne, Place de la Libération, 94400 Vitry-sur-Seine
When: 4th October 2007 – Sunday 13th January 2008
Opening hours: Every day except Mondays, 12-7pm
Admission: Adults 4 euros, concessions 2 euros, free for under 18s, students, unemployed…
Isn’t getting there going to be a pain?: Not really. We suggest you get to Porte de Choisy (metro line 7) then take the bus n°183 and get off at the stop called ‘Moulin de Saquet-Pelletan’. Journey time is about 5 minutes (there’s a separate bus lane most of the way). Ask the driver to give you a shout at the right stop; just say “Pouvez-vous nous faire signe à l’arrêt Moulin de Saquet-Pelletan, s’il vous plaît ?” (don’t forget ‘merci’ as well) 😉

More information on the official site here. Click the red box on the left that says “next temporary exhibition”.

Bigger map here