Palais de Tokyo

The exhibition “La République (cynique)” offers a counter-narrative of the history of performance art. It backdates the emergence of “performative practices” to Antiquity, and traces them in particular back to the moment at which the philosophical school of ancient cynicism first appeared. Imagined by its proponents as an heir to the teaching of Socrates, cynicism also positioned itself in opposition to the contemporary school of Plato. Imagined as a score, “La République (Cynique)” offers visitors the chance to experience an exhibition constructed like a score, which is renewed every day and every week, using dematerialised resources (scores, protocols, films and sound pieces) from the collection of the Centre national des arts plastiques (CNAP) combined with those of the Kontakt collection in Vienna.

A score by Pierre Bal-Blanc
Coordinator: Coline Davenne