Between industrial wastelands and brand-new ideas, "Double Trouble" promises a shot of raw, poetic, and sometimes crazy art. Here's why this new event for young creators is likely to shake up the cultural season.
Between industrial wastelands and brand-new ideas, "Double Trouble" promises a shot of raw, poetic, and sometimes crazy art. Here's why this new event for young creators is likely to shake up the cultural season.
From September 18 to November 2, 2025, Artagon launches Art Emergence, a new platform dedicated to freshly graduated artists. For the opening, the exhibition "Double Trouble" brings together 42 final-year projects – one from each public art or design school in France. The event is free to enter, located in the FAST cultural district of Romainville (Seine-Saint-Denis). The goal is to offer visitors a snapshot of the burgeoning creativity found in workshops and to give artists their first real spotlight outside of the school environment.
Painting, photography, ceramics, enhanced textiles, or virtual reality: the mediums collide, reflecting the concerns of the 2024 generation. Ecology, multiple identities, memory of territories, technocriticism... each work mirrors a reality, often intimate, sometimes political. Selected from 300 applications, these young creators receive comprehensive support: fees (€600), transportation of works, and three professional workshops (author status, rights, pitch). This helps initiate the transition towards a career where, according to the Observatory of Cultural Professions, only 34% of artists primarily make their living from their art after five years – a figure that underscores the importance of such a springboard.
The exhibition unfolds between the FRAC Île-de-France Reserves (inaugurated in 2021) and the Boiler Room of the Fiminco Foundation. On one side, 2000 square meters of white spaces designed by Freaks Architects to pamper the regional collection; on the other, 14 meters of headroom in a former steam factory – perfect for monumental installations. This alliance symbolizes the transformation of Seine-Saint-Denis: from a former working-class territory to a cultural hotspot, similar to Pantin or Saint-Ouen. In 2024, the department welcomed nearly 1.8 million cultural visitors, representing a +12% increase over five years (CRT IDF data).
Big Time Studio envisions a seamless, almost video game-like journey. Chrome corridors, semi-dark alcoves, elevated viewpoints: everything is designed to alternate between breathing space and tension. Visitors find themselves "sandwiched" (hence the title "Double Trouble") between two narrative threads: the fragility of the transition from school to professional life and the power of the finished works. A play of echoes connects the two buildings through electric purple signage – obvious to those who, like 60% of Greater Paris users, travel by public transport.
Emergence Art is not limited to the gallery walls. On October 25-26, the Maison des Métallos (Paris 11?) will host a festival combining performances, DJ sets, readings, and debates. Three young curators – Assia Ugobor, Flora Fettah, Lamia Zanna – promise a mix of "creation-reflection-celebration." Add to that three open-door weekends at 30 collective workshops between Paris and Seine-Saint-Denis: Wonder, Houloc, 6b, etc. Enough to turn your Sunday stroll into an artist safari, with a bike or Navigo pass in hand.
France has 44 public higher schools of art (source: ANdÉA), which represents a unique network in Europe. They graduate about 5,500 students annually, but their budgets are stagnating – some report a 10% loss of purchasing power in five years. By highlighting the crucial role of these institutions, Art Emergence advocates for an educational pathway that remains accessible and inclusive, especially since 48% of the students receive scholarships. A timely reminder as student precarity makes headlines.
Following the Fertile City, Komunuma, or the Thaddaeus Ropac gallery, Romainville continues its transformation. The FAST district (Fiminco – Art – Science – Technology) now lines up studios, international residences, and a future digital campus. For residents, this also means 2000 sqm of rehabilitated green spaces and workshops open all year round. A concrete example of successful conversion – going against the grain of a Grand Paris often seen as sprawling. Bonus: the extended line 11 places the "Romainville-Carnot" station just 20 minutes from Châtelet.
Since 2015, the association Artagon has been advocating for a more virtuous art: transparent fees, equality, eco-logistics. "Double Trouble" favors "already produced degrees" to avoid overproduction of items (a gesture appreciated when one knows that an average installation generates 250 kg of wood/plastic waste according to the COAL Foundation). Artists also benefit from workshops on copyright – a hot topic since the adoption of the European Copyright Directive, which came into effect in France in 2021.
Dates: September 18 – November 2, 2025
Locations: FRAC Reserves + Fiminco Boiler Room, 43 rue de la Commune de Paris, 93230 Romainville
Rate: free
Access: Metro line 11 Romainville-Carnot (or future line 15 East), bus 318, Ourcq Canal bike path
Festival: October 25-26, Maison des Métallos (entrance by ticketing – solidarity pricing)
Allow 2-3 hours to visit both sites; a free electric shuttle connects FRAC and Fiminco every weekend.
• **FRAC** = Regional Contemporary Art Fund, a public collection established in 1982.
• **Fondation Fiminco**: a private foundation housed in a former EDF heating plant, dedicated to residencies.
• **FAST**: a cluster that blends Art, Science, and Tech across 5 hectares.
These structures create an ecosystem where public and private sectors collaborate, a model that several European regions are starting to replicate.
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