The dreamlike, artistic Atlantic-Pacific Artists Line is the result of a meeting in New York in June 2023 between Marfret and the teams at the Villa Albertine.
In 2024, the Villa Albertine in the United States, like the Villa Medici in Rome, will once again be promoting the concept of artists’ residencies, in this case spread across ten American cities, under the impetus of the French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs.
With water as the central theme for ideas, and the ship as the vector of emotions, the Atlantic-Pacific Artists Line takes its cue from a very real shipping line, Marfret’s North Atlantic South Pacific (NASP) service, a weekly pendular line serving 15 ports on three continents and across three oceans.
The NASP links Le Havre and Rotterdam with Tahiti and New Caledonia, via the American ports of New York and Savannah, calling at Jamaica before stretching all the way to Australia and New Zealand. On this perpetual three-month loop, artists – painters, writers, film-makers and photographers – are being invited to stay aboard the Marius, on the leg of their choice. The artists have been selected for their interest in the sea and seafarers and their ability to relate the immersive experience.
As part of this new collaboration, three artists – Pierre Buttin, Arno Bertina and Grégoire Korganow – travelled on board the 195-metre vessel in 2023, a unique experience living in close contact with the crew members and meeting office staff at the agencies.
Six others (*) will be walking up the gangway in 2024, after being selected by a jury that includes two Marfret employees, Véronique Passarelli and Audrey Guedj. The result of their journey: original works, enriching experiences, artists intoxicated by the sea air and the dazzling panoramas, both at sea and in port, the scream of steel plates pummelled by the waves in heavy weather, or lulled by the peacefulness of a sunset, or the sight of a pod of “laughing dolphins” as Pierre Buttin so aptly describes it.
From his days on board, the New York Times and New Yorker illustrator has produced a travel diary of 12 drawings that are featured in the 2024 Marfret calendar. It was a time of emotions, once-in-a-lifetime moments, of being on the same wavelength as the crew members, who appreciate a spotlight being shone on the profession and their lives, so often overlooked by those on land.
In 2009, as a reaction against the dehumanised globalisation of trade, Marfret opened its doors to artists in welcoming aboard video artist Marie Reinert, who produced the subsequent documentary Roll on Roll off. From his 42 days at sea, watercolour artist Yvan Salomone has produced a series of paintings to be exhibited in spring 2024 at Marfret’s new premises on the Quai de la Joliette in Marseille. A selection of works by the six artists in residence will be exhibited at the Musée de la Marine in Paris in 2025, when France celebrates the Year of the Sea.
(*) The names of the six laureates will be unveiled on January 23rd.