Despite Our Differences – The Hippocrene Foundation has invited the Giuliani Foundation for Contemporary Art

The Propos d’Europe exhibition series consists of a journey across European contemporary creation from one year to the next. This year’s exhibition marks a change in approach from previous editions as well as a new stage in the development of the Hippocrene Foundation.
 

Propos d’Europe 12 is the result of a collaboration with the Giuliani Foundation, a private Italian institution which brings together, along with its founders, the works of leading and emerging European and international contemporary artists. Adrienne Drake, Director of the Giuliani Foundation, is the curator of the exhibition. Of Anglo-Saxon background, she has lived in Italy for many years. After immersing herself in the Mallet-Stevens agency’s space, headquarters to the Hippocrene Foundation, she selected a small number of works by European artists in the Giuliani collection – works that inhabit the space and offer themselves, each in their own way, to the eye of the seasoned viewer.
 

The title of the exhibition, Despite Our Differences, is open to multiple interpretations. Firstly, it reflects the choice of the works which use various techniques and materials. It might appear that the works are unrelated, and yet they respond to one another and dialogue with the space’s architecture. As such, while they transect with one another, ultimately, they are brought together in a space within an exhibition that links them by its very purpose, so much so that the perception of each work is fully realised in relation to the reception of the other works.
 

The title also refers to the two foundations that organised this project – one Italian, the other French, both of them family-operated, one dedicated to contemporary art and the other to Europe and youth – foundations that have come together within the context of this wonderful project, each contributing its own identity and assets. This partnership is mutually enriching, especially by the varying viewpoints that exhibition visitors will have of these two institutions.
Lastly, the title alludes to the different European countries that coexist within a whole that is beyond us and that we are happy to continue to explore and reveal.
 

For all of these reasons, we would like to sincerely thank Giovanni and Valeria Giuliani, the Giuliani Foundation, as well as Adrienne Drake, who allowed for the creation of this project that fills us with enthusiasm. We hope it will be the first stage of a prolific partnership.
Beyond contemporary art, this joint exhibition with an Italian foundation fits more generally into the development strategy of our overall activities, most notably that of education for Europe. In June of this year, we formalised a partnership with the Allianz Foundation for the Paris-Berlin Grand Prize ceremony, organised for the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Elysée Treaty between France and Germany. This prize was awarded to French and German school classes. The Evens Foundation (Belgium), the Genshagen Foundation (Germany) and the Karolyi Foundation (Hungary) are additional foundations with which we have developed joint projects in the past.
 

We are convinced that Europe has much to gain when it comes to members of civil society from different countries working together more often, in all sectors. We therefore plan to continue building partnerships with other European foundations on tangible subjects within the continent’s various countries in order to help bring Europe to life and reinforce its cohesion.
 

View the exhibition catalogue