The “Once Upon a Time” exhibit presents four years of acquisition and allows us to discover a new part of the FRAC collection, a treasure that belongs to us all!

What story can tell us an art collection that brings together different works of several artists? How, by whom and for whom does this collection exist? What history does it tell us? That of the time, the art, the work, the artist? Who tells this story? Bringing together here and now works from the collection of the FRAC Champagne-Ardenne, whose only common point is a priori their years of acquisition, is a bet. Will they dialogue, resonate with each other or on the contrary enter into dissonance?
What is certain is that the unknown territory, born of their presence, will only exist once, the time of the exhibition. Surveying this sensitive geography allows you to step back, look back and put into perspective a selection of four years of acquisition. To leave all the room to the impression, to follow the intuition of a link, to listen to the silences and the empty spaces between the works is to make possible the construction of a free narrative. Because there is a link, although invisible, between them: the work of five personalities from different backgrounds, gathered for four years, from 2018 to 2021 with the mission to enrich the FRAC collection.
With works by Lawrence Abu Hamdan, Saâdane Afif, Ouassila Arras, Alex Ayed, Sophie Barber, Orian Barki and Meriem Bennani, Étienne Chambaud, Gaëlle Choisne, Rabiya Choudhry, Julien Creuzet, Freya Dooley, David Douard, Charlotte Dualé, Nathanaëlle Herbelin, Florence Jung, LOW PROFILE, Randa Maroufi, Juliette Mock, Nicolas Momeim, Joanna Piotrowska, Sara Sadik, Rosalie Schweiker, Agnès Thurnauer, Julia Wachtel
Exhibition curator: Marie Griffay, director of FRAC Champagne-Ardenne