The Fondation Cartier & RATP unveil a new exhibition at the Galerie Valois

‘Forbidden to the public’, a free exhibition at the Galerie Valois until 19 October 2025

Photo credit : Amandine Goetz

Tucked away in the meanders of the Palais Royal - Musée du Louvre metro station is the Galerie Valois, the very first shopping arcade in Paris, opened in the 1900s. It was long abandoned, but since the 2000s it has been revitalised as an art gallery.

Today, the Fondation Cartier for Contemporary Art, in collaboration with the RATP, is unveiling its new photographic exhibition ‘Interdit au Public’ by Alain Guiraudie.

Photo credit : Amandine Goetz

An artistic project in which French director, screenwriter and writer Alain Guiraudie captures a place that is still off-limits to the public: the construction site.

Photo credit : Amandine Goetz

"I have a great curiosity about construction work and building sites. But they're always closed to the public. I always get kicked out as soon as I try to look around. So when the Fondation Cartier pour l'art contemporain asked me to take photos of the construction site of its future premises on Place du Palais-Royal, I jumped at the chance. It was a chance for me to photograph the work, the trades, and to see at close quarters how buildings are constructed. And so I found myself in this great enclosed space, closed off from the outside, a great modern cavern, without a hustle and bustle, where people quietly work, stroll, smooth and drill. I was even surprised to see so many workers working alone, each in their own corner. It wasn't after spending a few mornings there that I understood anything about the way buildings are constructed; in fact, every time I returned to the site, I had the impression that nothing had changed, and yet I was always finding new motifs to photograph. It was all very mysterious to me. Instead, I let myself be drawn in by the lights and colours of the place, by the bodies and figures that populated it, by the movement and circulation."
Alain Guiraudie

Photo credit : Amandine Goetz

Free exhibition ‘Forbidden to the public’ until 19 October 2025 at the Galerie Valois
Access via Palais-Royal - Musée du Louvre station, exit no. 4
Place du Palais-Royal, opposite the Palais Royal café

 

Front page image: Amandine Goetz
Editorial staff: Amandine Goetz