Laure Prouvost presents her new monumental installation at the Vieille Charité in Marseille

The Marseille Museums continue to consolidate their commitment to contemporary art with an invitation to artist Laure Prouvost (b. Croix, 1978), who in 2025 will present the monumental installation Mère We Sea, designed for the chapel of the Vieille Charité Center, which can be visited from April 2, 2025 to January 11, 2026. With this new commission, the museums of Marseille are continuing a tradition rooted in the history of one of the city’s most important cultural spaces, inviting internationally renowned artists to design site-specific works that resonate in dialogue with the site’s architecture and past. After the impressive installations by Ghada Amer (2023), Paola Pivi (2021) and Erwin Wurm (2019), 2025 marks a new milestone with the arrival of Prouvost, whose work, with its typically sensitive exploration of collective memories and histories, will find a perfect stage to manifest itself. The choice of the Vieille Charité, a historic building that has gone through centuries of change, is perfectly reflected in Laure Prouvost’s works, which are by nature capable of fusing personal and collective memory with contemporary artistic language. Her installation takes the form of a visual and sound work that becomes the conduit for a reconnection between the voices of the past and those of the present. His creation is conceived as an emotional journey that explores forgotten stories, while celebrating the most intimate narratives of the inhabitants of the Panier neighborhood and the historical evolutions that Marseille has experienced over the centuries.

A dreamlike journey between past and present

Prouvost’s project, conceived as a maternal and fertile figure, draws inspiration from the chapel’s historic architecture and the stories of Marseille’s inhabitants, from those of the distant past to those of today’s residents. The artist intends to evoke a sensitive memory, linked to the daily and collective experiences of the city, inviting the audience to an immersive experience that breaks down temporal barriers.

The choice to use the aquatic theme, with visual effects reminiscent of underwater reflections, contributes to a dreamlike atmosphere and reinforces the idea of a continuous flow of memories and stories that overlap and blend into a single vision. In collaboration with theÉcole des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS) and the Conservatoire de Marseille, Laure Prouvost’s work becomes a tribute to the city’s collective memory, but also a call to reflect on the subtle and often overlooked dimensions of personal histories. The project is part of a larger framework that aims to enhance local heritage by transforming it through contemporary creativity.

They Parlaient Idéale: Prouvost’s film at the [mac] Museum of Contemporary Art

In parallel with this event, the [ mac ] Museum of Contemporary Art in Marseille will present one of Laure Prouvost’s most significant works, the film They Parlaient Idéale, during European Museum Night, from May 17, 2025 to January 11, 2026. The film work, which was conceived for the French Pavilion at the Venice Biennale in 2019, is at the heart of an artistic reflection that travels an initiatory journey through France and beyond, from the Palais du Facteur Cheval to the Calanques of Marseille, to Venice. The film, like many of Prouvost’s works, stands out for its ability to mix visual and narrative language, creating an experience that crosses and blurs the boundaries between dream and reality. The film takes the form of a joyful and surreal adventure, shot during a road trip that winds through varied and contrasting landscapes, expressing a deep connection with the places and the people who inhabit them. Each leg of the journey represents a fragment of a larger story that builds through images and words, creating a mosaic of sensations and reflections that transcend physical and temporal boundaries.

The review of works demonstrates Laure Prouvost’s unique approach to exploring themes of memory, identity and transformation, using different media to evoke experiences that are both personal and universal. Her ability to bring to life imaginary worlds that speak of hidden truths and forgotten histories is the hallmark that makes her work so relevant and engaging, not only for Marseille audiences, but for viewers around the world.

Notes on the artist

Born in 1978 in Croix, near Lille, Laure Prouvost is an internationally renowned French contemporary artist. Trained at Central Saint Martins and Goldsmiths College in London, she lives and works between Antwerp, London, and Brussels. Her work explores immersive environments where reality and fiction intertwine. Video, sculpture, painting, tapestries and performance form her poetic, eccentric and whimsical universe. Winner of the Max Mara Art Prize for Women in 2011, in 2013 she became the first French artist to receive the prestigious Turner Prize. In 2019, she represented France at the 58th Venice Biennale with her installations Deep Blue Surrounding You / Vois Ce Bleu Profond Te Fondre. She has had numerous solo exhibitions internationally and her works are regularly presented in prestigious institutions such as Kunsthal Charlottenborg in Copenhagen, the New Museum of Contemporary Art in New York and Tate Britain in London.

Laure Prouvost presents her new monumental installation at the Vieille Charité in Marseille

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