The starting signal in Paris for the European Artistic Crafts Days (JEMA), which were organised on April 4th, 5th and 6th, was given on April 3rd at the Palais de Tokyo. 

With Vacheron Constantin supporting the JEMA for the fourth consecutive year, in partnership with the National Institute of Artistic Crafts Crafts (INMA), Juan-Carlos Torres, CEO of the watchmaking company, was on hand to inaugurate the “Period Room” exhibition staged in this major centre for contemporary art. 

Speaking at a ceremony attended by a number of leading lights on the French cultural scene, including Elias Guenoun, winner of the 2014 session of the young Architects and Landscape Designers Albums competition, Juan-Carlos Torres was keen to evoke the Geneva-based watch manufacturer’s natural attachment to creativity in general and to artistic crafts in particular: “For a watch manufacturer that has been making use of artistic crafts for almost 260 years and has constantly defended them in order to ensure their continuity, it is important to clearly state that these skills are not crafts of the past, but instead multi-facetted contemporary forms of expression. Dedicated to collaborate endeavours between artists and artisans, the “Period Room exhibition highlights the contemporary nature of artistic crafts through a resolutely innovative interdisciplinary approach that reshuffles the cards for the future of these crafts. Our support for the “Period Room” exhibition clearly points in this direction. 

Open to the public until April 21st, with the support of Vacheron Constantin and the National Institute of Artistic Crafts (INMA), this exhibition presented by the Palais de Tokyo turns the spotlight on a set of collaborate endeavours between artists: international sculptors, artisans, an architect, a graphic designer and a designer. The result of these exchanges is presented through a “period room”, a style of museum exhibition consisting in reconstituting a specific setting so as to portray the homogeneity of an era. Jean de Loisy, President of the Palais de Tokyo, was keen to point out that “the exhibition reveals the blurring of creative borders and aims to encourage participating artists and artisans to image what a period room of the contemporary era might look like.” 

Above and beyond its commitment to the “Period Room” exhibition, the Manufacture Vacheron Constantin is also providing more global support for the Palais de Tokyo in its determination to provide an space in which contemporary artists can express themselves. With this in mind, the watch Manufacture is also partnering the entire “L’Etat du ciel” season at the Palais de Tokyo. 

The French National Institute of Artistic Crafts 

The National Institute of Artistic Crafts (INMA) is a state-run organisation dedicated to artistic crafts. Its role is to prepare for the future of this sector of the French economy and its creative fields by creating favourable conditions for its lasting development. The INMA’s core purpose lies in providing information, conducting studies and encouraging the transmission of skills, as well as supporting and promoting artistic crafts. It is within the framework of this mission that the INMA handles the national coordination of the European Artistic Crafts Days. 

Vacheron Constantin and Artistic Crafts 

Vacheron Constantin, with its almost 260 years of interrupted history, is profoundly attached to supporting the world of culture, and particularly art. For the fourth consecutive year, the Manufacture lent its support to the European Artistic Crafts Days, in partnership with the French National Institute of Artistic Crafts. 

For Vacheron Constantin, promoting artistic crafts is more than just a commitment; it is a duty that involves intensifying the universal reach of often little known or forgotten skills. These events held in France and in other European cities (Milan, London, Geneva) provide an opportunity for the public to discover the individuals exercising and cultivating these age-old forms of expertise, and of inspiring new vocations.