Panel
ODILE DECQ
Architect
A major name in French architecture and one of the few women architects with an international reputation, Odile Decq is a specialist in transfer and instability. Winner of the Golden Lion at the Venice Biennial of Architecture, and director of the Ecole Spéciale d’Architecture in Paris, she has designed numerous globally-acclaimed buildings, including Macro (Contemporary Art Museum, Rome), Phantom (the Paris Opéra Garnier restaurant) and the FRAC Bretagne Museum (Rennes).
CONNY FREYER
Artist and co-founder of the Troika collective
Conny Freyer is a German artist who lives and works in London. In 2003, she joined forces with Eva Rucki and Sebastien Noel to found Troika. The trio of artists rapidly made a name on the international art scene with digital works that explore human perception and experience.
PATRICK GYGER
Director of the Lieu Unique, Nantes
The Swiss historian and curator Patrick Gyger has headed several cultural institutions in Nantes, like the Maison d’Ailleurs, the Musée de l’ Utopie, and the Espace Jules Verne dedicated to Extraordinary Voyages, and is the artistic director of the Utopiales. In January 2011, he became the director of the Lieu Unique, the national contemporary arts centre of Nantes, with a project based on utopias and interdisciplinary practices.
FABIEN SIMODE
Editor of L’Œil
After obtaining a degree in the history of art and sociology from the University of Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne, Fabien Simode joined a major corporate press agency where he was a writer, then the editor of newspapers and magazines for various companies. After being assistant editor of L’Œil with the launch of the new-look version in 2006, he was appointed the magazine’s editor in June 2011.
ZHANG XIAOTAO
Artist and director of the new media department at the Fine Arts Institute of Sichuan (China)
The Chinese artist and curator Zhang Xiaotao graduated from the Fine Arts Academy of Sichuan. He taught at the Southwest Jiaotong University in Chengdu, then became the director of the New Media Department at the Fine Arts Institute of Sichuan in 2010. His work has been exhibited in international institutions, including the Saatchi Gallery in London.
