Visual arts
Creation in the visual arts brings together a plurality of artistic fields: the plastic arts (painting, sculpture, drawing, installation), photography, video art, performance art.
Creation in the visual arts brings together a plurality of artistic fields: the plastic arts (painting, sculpture, drawing, installation), photography, video art, performance art.
The visual arts ecosystem in France is characterized by a high density of players (artists, curators, art critics, professionals) and venues for the production, dissemination and mediation of contemporary art, through museums, Frac (regional contemporary art funds), art centers, foundations, art galleries, fairs, major events (biennials, festivals) and artists' residencies.
France ranks fourth worldwide in the contemporary art sales market, behind the United States, China and the United Kingdom, and just ahead of Japan and Germany.
One of the major challenges facing the French visual arts internationally today is the participation of our artists in major contemporary art events such as biennales, and their visibility via solo or group exhibitions in prescriptive venues. It is this international presence that serves as a springboard in artists' careers and partly determines the value of their works on the art market.
Promoting French contemporary art around the world is a major challenge for France's diplomacy of influence.
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Our missions in the field of visual arts
The Institut français supports the work of the cultural network abroad to promote the visual arts sector internationally, to encourage networking and professional exchanges, to showcase and promote artists and curators from the French scene - from the most emerging to the most established - to encourage co-productions and cooperation between French structures (museums, art centers, Frac, foundations, galleries, art schools) and international.
Its actions focus on several areas:
Support for the international mobility of artists and curators, as part of research and production residencies piloted by the Institut français and/or the cultural network abroad.
Networking and professional exchanges through programs of professional meetings in targeted international territories, market territories or on the occasion of major events such as biennials or contemporary art fairs.
Awareness and promotion of the French art scene, artists of all generations, emerging, mid-career and established, by inviting international professionals to France on the occasion of flagship events such as biennales or contemporary art fairs.
Aid for distribution and international cooperation, by supporting exhibitions of artists from the French scene around the world, favoring both solo exhibitions, group exhibitions in prescriptive venues and the presence of our artists at major international events (biennales, festivals, etc.) but also targeting priority art market territories.
Aid for cooperation, by supporting networks in their European structuring: agreement with Platform, the FRAC network.
Support for cultural network actions for monitoring, expertise and strategic advice, organize events, debates, exhibitions, workshops, exchange and residency programs.
Monitoring, expertise and strategic advice, in conjunction with public and private players in the sector, to strengthen the presence of the French art scene worldwide.
Our key programs
The French Institute's Visual Arts Focus since 2010
323 international curators invited to discover the French scene.
165 exhibitions organized around the world following this scouting.
More than 180 French artists in the spotlight internationally.
IF Incontournable / IF Export 2025 in the visual arts sector
10
solo exhibitions supported by museums, institutions, foundations and art centers.
10 accompanied contemporary art biennials.
6 supported group exhibitions in key venues, plus 3 other events such as professional meetings between members of the art scene.
IF Incontournable / IF Export 2025 in the photography sector
25
photographer-artists (15 women/10 men) supported.
4 4 curators from the French scene (2 women / 2 men) first-time beneficiaries.
15 solo exhibitions, 4 group exhibitions and/or film cycles, and a cooperation project in Egypt.
Our partners
Relays and specialized offices
The Institut français relies on the cultural network abroad and on the four relays specialized in the visual arts around the world. They facilitate professional exchanges, support artists in their international development, and accompany distribution and cooperation projects. They benefit from their own annual calls for projects and carry out actions specific to their territory.
- Visual arts office in Berlin, Germany (Perspektive fund)
- Specialized visual arts office in New York, USA (Etant donné fund)
- Specialized visual arts office in London, UK (Fluxus art projects)
- Specialized visual arts office in New York, USAUK (Fluxus art projects)
Specialized visual arts relay in Beijing, China
National public and private players
The Institut français is developing collaborations with national players in order to carry out emblematic actions internationally.
For the visual arts: Ministère de la Culture, DGCA, Cnap - Centre national des arts plastiques, major museum institutions, Frac, art centers, professional networks (dca; cea; CIPAC; Platform; documents d'artistes; Andea; CPGA; Trampoline; etc), foundations, art galleries, contemporary art fairs, biennales, festivals.
For photography: Ministry of Culture, DGCA, Cnap - Centre national des arts plastiques, Diagonal, national network of photography distribution and production structures, France PhotoBook, which federates France's leading independent publishers of photography books and today includes 30 publishing houses spread across the country, Paris Photo, Rencontres d'Arles, Jeu de Paume.
News
Yto Barrada représentera la France à La Biennale di Venezia en 2026
19 novembre 2024
25 Years of the Marcel Duchamp Prize in Budapest
From April 9 to August 24, 2025, the Ludwig Museum hosts an event exhibition celebrating 25 years of French contemporary art.
"In A Field Well-Found - Artistic Practices from the Marcel Duchamp Prize's 25 Years" is an exhibition co-produced by ADIAF and the Institut français de Hongrie, with support from the IF Incontournable & PICC programs.
18 leading artists from the French scene - winners and finalists of the Marcel Duchamp Prize - are brought together for a unique dive into the current French art scene.
The collective Panties for Peace and artist Fredj Moussa at the 13th Berlin Biennale of Contemporary Art
The 13th Berlin Biennale of Contemporary Art, which runs from June 14 to September 14, 2025, is curated by Zasha Colah. With the support of the French Institute, the French scene will be represented at the Biennale with the collective Panties for Peace and artist Fredj Moussa.