Presentation

The Musée de l’invisible is a new creative and research space dedicated to astral arts and cultures around the world. The project takes a particular interest in the incredible and the imperceptible, those little known and inexplicable realities that contribute to the artistic process.

Currently without permanent premises, the museum looks at other ways of experiencing and perceiving art. It is a mobile, cross-disciplinary project, which harks back to ancient traditions whilst remaining anchored in contemporary artistic, social, scientific, philosophical, and spiritual discourse.

The Musée de l’invisible is fundamentally trans-historic and cross-disciplinary. It should be seen as a laboratory celebrating the culture of the new millennium, in which the boundaries between different areas of human knowledge and realms of life are necessarily crossed and reconfigured.

With this in mind, it seems essential to revisit the question of the invisible. As a preferred medium for exploring this theme, contemporary art already plays a part in bringing this question to the fore. After all, has art not always been intimately linked to the many forms of the invisible?

Unaddressed for too long, the difficulty surrounding the invisible is even more pertinent in light of the latest discoveries on the limits of matter, space, and the mind. This is why the invisible in question here covers a spectrum that includes astrophysics and cognitive science, as well as phenomenology, ethno-psychology, metaphysics, and that science of the unexplained known as metapsychics.

We are therefore called upon to readdress the inextricable links between the visible and the invisible in art, even looking at our most mythical experiences, which contain traces and memories of this connection. The Musée de l’invisible lies at the crossroads between different investigatory fields; its aim is to open new spaces of reflexion, action, and knowledge that bring together the public, artists, and researchers.

The opening ventures at the Musée de l’invisible thus allow us to re-examine the relationship between art and the invisible, through experimental projects. These include the research seminar, L’humain débordé (Self Overflowing), with Université Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne, or L’académie de l’arbre (Tree Academy), whose mission is to help create a new cultural approach to trees, the environment, and living things.2 And, of course, the Astralis exhibition also addresses the visionary techniques employed by artists, through the theme of astral projection.

A growing number of contemporary artists are working on this theme, contributing to a greater extent than we may previously have realised. The Musée de l’invisible responds to this phenomenon by seeking to create a path of understanding, acceptance, and mediation for this profound cultural renewal, whilst offering new perspectives on the different worlds and visions proposed.

Based on a development association created in December 2012, the Musée de l’invisible is an evolving project, which will initially be mobile and temporary (particularly the temporary exhibitions and events). The Musée de l’invisible is a recognised “public service” project, and therefore qualifies for state support and tax exemptions.

 

Pascal Pique, fondateur du Musée de l’Invisible