Mano Habilis – a project with JR and le19M

16.09 → 05.11.2023

Workshop Free

As part of the restoration work at the Palais Garnier, the Opéra national de Paris has invited the artist JR to cloak the scaffolding covering the monument with two successive installations. In Act I, “The entrance to the cave”, starting from 6 September, JR will reinterpret the monumental façade of this high temple of music and dance. The decor reveals the entrance to an immense cavern opening onto a view of rock and light. The decor will change in November for Act II, “Mano Habilis”: the installation on the facade of the building will be transformed into a stage curtain, which you are invited to decorate!

From 15 September to 15 October 2023, Atelier Montex, le19M’s resident embroidery house, is teaming up with the artist JR to programme a free introductory embroidery workshop. Participants will contribute to a monumental installation designed by JR that will adorn the facade of the Palais Garnier in November 2023. The workshop is also a precursor to the Parcelle cultural garden project, due to open in spring 2024.

the Project

J3 MONTEX JR HD EJS 8© EleaJeanne Schmitter(1)

In line with the many projects carried out by Atelier Montex in collaboration with artists, designers, and creative venues, the Maison is renewing its invitation to try your hand at embroidery with a new project by the artist JR. Entitled MANO HABILIS, this participatory workshop involves the public, guided by the Montex embroiderers and a team of enthusiastic amateur embroiderers who will share their savoir-faire. It offers everyone the chance to take part in the creation of a monumental installation that will adorn the facade of the Palais Garnier for a spectacular show that will take in November 2023.

The artist, renowned for his approach inviting us to change our perspective on emblematic monuments around the world, will begin a visual metamorphosis of the Palais Garnier in the autumn with a two-act performance. After cloaking the facade in a photographic collage depicting a trompe-l’oeil grotto in September, JR will change the decor in November.

Interspersed with a multitude of metaphorical self-portraits—the handprints of the participants who came to embroider these imprints during their visit to the Parcelle in Paris/Aubervilliers—this monumental collective work will provide an interior view of the cave, the birthplace of cave art and of self-awareness.

At the end of the workshop, each participant will be able to have their photograph taken in one of the artist’s iconic photobooths, and leave with a black-and-white portrait and an embroidered handprint. The public will then be invited to visit la Galerie du 19M’s new exhibition, Carla Fernández. The future is handmade.

the Artist

JR

JR exhibits freely in the streets of the world, catching the attention of people who are not typical museum visitors. From the suburbs of Paris to the slums of Brazil to the streets of Istanbul, JR pastes huge portraits of little-known people.

In 2011, after receiving the TED Prize, JR created Inside Out, a global participatory art project that helps communities make a statement by displaying large-scale black and white portraits in public spaces. As of September 2023, over half a million people from more than 150 countries and territories have participated in the project by creating their own installations or entering one of the Inside Out photobooths.