Exhibition: "The Earth Is Narrow for Us"

AMNESTY International - IESA arts&culture Partnership

The Earth Is Narrow to Us, a project by 1st-year Master Contemporary Art students

Through this project, the students developed their curatorial, sales, and organizational skills, on a project that brings people together around the human rights values defended by Amnesty International.

The exhibition "The Earth Is Narrow to Us" was held over three days, and the students were in charge of the preparation, organization, and logistics of the exhibition:

- relations with the artists,

- selection of works,

- scenography,

- installation of the exhibition,

- mediation,

- communication,

- opening,

- auction

- media and charitable impact of the project.

The students were supervised by Marie Gayet, independent exhibition curator and art critic.

Our Master 1 Art Market students worked under the guidance of Agnès Violeau, curator and art critic, member of ICOM.

The program aimed to truly professionalize its students by offering them the chance to organize and take part in concrete projects centered on the Art Market sector.

The ceremony opened with an opening speech by the director of IESA, Marie-Sandrine CADUDAL, followed by an encouraging speech by the president of Amnesty France, Jean-Claude Samouiller.

The auction was conducted by Maître Olivier Valmier, auctioneer at the APONEM auction house.

A Word from the Students

"As part of our first year of the Master’s at the Institut d’Études Supérieures des Arts (IESA, Paris, 75011), we undertook a unique project: organizing an exceptional auction in collaboration with Amnesty International, showcasing passionate and committed artists. In our quest to merge art and humanitarian commitment, our approach was guided by the deep desire to defend the values upheld by Amnesty International. Our clear goal: to orchestrate a sale in which the funds raised will be donated in full to this organization. To shape this unique exhibition, we drew inspiration from the poetic writings of Mahmoud Darwish (Palestinian poet). His words, charged with deep meaning, were the guiding thread that allowed us to make a message of hope and justice resonate through the carefully selected works. Our artistic approach thus finds its essence in the convergence of creative expression and the humanitarian cause, creating a space where art becomes a force for change and where every bid helps support the ideals defended by Amnesty International."

- The students of the Master 1 Contemporary Art Market

The Earth Is Narrow to Us

Title of a collection by Mahmoud Darwish

He embraces his murderer to win his mercy: would you hold it against me much if I survived? Brother, oh my brother! What have I done that you should murder me? […] Spit your hell away from me. Come to my mother’s hut so that she may prepare the bean for you […] What crime have I committed that you should murder me, oh my brother? I will not loosen my embrace, I will not let go of you!

Excerpt from the poem He Embraces His Murderer, Mahmoud Darwish

What is a gesture of resistance, an activist gesture, a gesture of solidarity, a gesture of freedom?

For the exhibition The Earth Is Narrow to Us, we chose to work with artists whose work reflects and illustrates the image and values of Amnesty International, through committed works carrying powerful messages. Their work embodies the spirit of the fight for human rights, shedding light on injustices, raising awareness of humanist thought, and celebrating, through art, resistance in the face of adversity.

From painting to photography, including sculpture, drawing, textile works, and video, each piece tells a story of men and women confronted with a world where freedom and the very right to live are called into question by social, economic, political, and ideological factors.

This exhibition title The Earth Is Narrow to Us resonates like a silent cry, carrying the weight of the injustices and suffering endured by so many people around the world. It evokes the feeling of being cramped, confined in oppressive patterns, whether because of one’s gender, religion, sexual orientation, or any other characteristic that should be a source of pride but is often used as a pretext to restrict freedom and human dignity. It is also the feeling of a child deprived of their fundamental rights, condemned to a restricted existence by violence or exploitation, or of an individual whose freedom of expression is muzzled by fear and repression. Yet, despite this imposed narrowness, there is in this title a glimmer of hope, a poetry that transcends physical and mental barriers. For The Earth Is Narrow to Us is not only a statement of our limits, but also an invitation to imagine a different future, in which everyone can live safe and free.

To say, like the poet: I shake their hands, one by one, then I bow in greeting… and I continue this journey toward another country, where I will say things about the difference between mirages and rain and ask: Ladies and gentlemen of good hearts, is the land of men: for all men?