60 Years From Now: Relaying

How will the Cité internationale des arts’ values of hospitality, conviviality, intergenerational dialogue and the creation of safe spaces be transformed over the next 60 years? 60 Years From Now: Relaying and its accompanying events programme questions artists from different generations and different continents, all of whom have been in residence at the Cité internationale des arts between 1965 and today. Their answers bear witness to the issues of the contemporary world they chose to address. Some draw inspiration from ecofeminist infrastructures, while others explore new social contracts that include both humans and non-humans. Some examine restorative justice processes and non-extractive, non-violent practices, while others express a critical perspective on the connections between climate change, artificial intelligence and conflicts.

The exhibition’s two curators were both born in a country that no longer exists, the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. For this speculative exercise, they have taken as a metaphor the Relay of Youth, a symbolic relay race held annually between 1945 and 1988 to mark the birthday of Yugoslavian President, Josip Broz Tito (1892-1980). The race crossed every region of the country transporting a baton symbolizing the promise of a better future for Yugoslav youth.

The exhibition considers the idea of committing to the future and sets out to explore the different ways of transmitting this commitment. Can the different generations living today amid genocides and ecocide envisage the future with hope and responsibility?