We met the new Director Catherine Grenier to talk about the present and the future of the archives.
The Alberto and Annette Giacometti Foundation is a French public interest institution, created by government decree in December 2003 and located into a Parisian building near the very recognizable Beaubourg. Behind a simple doorway and a metallic portal, a quiet and hard-working world, consecrated to the preservation of the Art of one of the most important artists of the twentieth century. It is a real temple that pushed the cult of conservation to a singular high level of dedication, in line with current technological tools such as the AGD: Alberto Giacometti Database (http://www.fondation-giacometti.fr )
Credit Sara Rania
Directly and completely engaged in boosting Giacometti’s work, the Foundation constantly works to preserve the unique heritage of Annette Giacometti, widow and main female model of the artist during his life, this supplementing the lack of permanent exhibition space with an intense activity of exchange and promotion. A repertory of cultural actions supported by a dedicated website considered by Mrs Grenier: “informative and pedagogical. With commentary and a lot of material regularly created by the employees of the foundation especially for online users. Conceived as a live and active tool, this site is one of the fundamental windows of our actions to support the work of Giacometti and is visited, not only by students, researchers and museum curators who want to search or simply keep updated to the news or explore the vast expanse of the collection, but also by fans. Digital tools allow us to quickly reach the general public”.
Catherine Grenier
Ph Sara Rania
Even if only opened to professionals, the Foundation, can reach the public through its website, that can be fully considered as a permanent exhibition space. The social networks are included into this contemporary strategy of visibility. The Foundation has a Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/pages/Fondation-Alberto-et-Annette-Giacometti/ and also a Twitter account https://twitter.com/FAAGiacometti
Mrs. Grenier imagines the future of the Foundation like a full synergy plan between the different aspects of Giacometti’s work: “ I think that the archives should never be dissociated from the works. Both are enriched by their mutual contact. This is also why the authentication committee often organizes its meetings in the archive. We are digitizing the archive and of course we will retain the current paper form, developing at the same time more links to improve the internal dynamics of the Foundation’s activities”.
The lovers of virtual exhibitions can also explore the fourteen rooms of the digital path “Alberto Giacometti. Lœuvre de la maturité (1945-1965)”. http://www.fondation-giacometti.fr/ made by Veronique Wiesinger, former Director of Giacometti’s Foundation
From http://www.fondation-giacometti.fr/
This post is also available in: Italian
