France’s Bold New Home For Contemporary Art Opens On An Island On The Outskirts Of Paris

On the storied Île Seguin in Boulogne-Billancourt just outside of Paris, where generations of Renault workers once built the automobiles that powered modern France, a different kind of engine has roared to life. Opening its doors on October 17, 2026, Large is the long-awaited culmination of French property developer and art collector Laurent Dumas’ ambition to transform one of the country’s most symbolically charged industrial sites into a major destination for contemporary art. Designed by Pritzker Prize-winning RCR Arquitectes, in association with CALQ, as the cultural centerpiece of the €450 million Pointe des Arts development, the 5,000-sqm, non-profit institution represents the latest chapter in Dumas’ decades-long commitment to supporting artists through initiatives such as “1 Building, 1 Artwork” and the Emerige Revelations Grant.

Rather than inaugurating the space with a conventional survey show, director Paula Aisemberg and guest curator Cecilia Alemani (director and chief curator of High Line Art) have chosen to look both backward and forward with “Imaginary Engine”, an exhibition that reconnects the island’s industrial memory with contemporary artistic imagination. It was here that that Renault had employed 35,000 workers at the height of its activity in the mid-20th century, rolling a finished vehicle off its assembly lines roughly every 90 seconds. No stranger to art, Renault had initiated pioneering collaborations with artists in the 1960s—some even creating their art pieces within the factory itself—leading to the birth of an extraordinary collection inspired by the universe of the automobile.

Now 120 artworks dating from the 1930s to present day by 55 artists from 23 countries are presented in the inaugural exhibition, on view through March 7, 2027. Historic masterpieces from the Renault collection by Jean Tinguely, Jean Dubuffet, Victor Vasarely, Arman, Julio Le Parc, Robert Doisneau, Niki de Saint Phalle and Erró rub shoulders with 17 newly commissioned works by artists including Bertrand Lavier, Bianca Bondi, Giulia Andreani, Oliver Beer, Mohamed El Khatib, Théo Mercier, Valentin Ranger, Sara Sadik, Clément Cogitore and Thu Van Tran, reaffirming Large’s commitment to producing—not merely exhibiting—art. In this conversation, Aisemberg discusses the challenges of launching an entirely new institution, why commissioning ambitious new works was essential from day one and how Large hopes to establish itself as one of the defining new voices in France’s contemporary cultural landscape.

Why was it important to Laurent Dumas to transform one of France’s most symbolically charged industrial sites, so deeply associated with Renault, into a new cultural destination, reconnecting the general public with a site that had remained largely inaccessible for more than a century?

For over 35 years now, Groupe Emerige has worked to transform cities by making them more beautiful, accessible and sustainable. The opportunity to breathe life back into Île Seguin by transforming a former industrial site into a space where art, architecture and members of the public can freely encounter one another is an exceptional one, which perfectly reflects and extends the group’s commitments. It was also a unique chance to transmit the heritage and memory of the thousands of men and women who had worked on the island and made it into the pride of France’s industrial sector.

Large is the culmination of more than a decade of planning and a major investment by Laurent Dumas. From your perspective as director, what differentiates this project from other private contemporary art institutions?

What differentiates our project from other private initiatives is first and foremost its exhibition program, which is oriented towards the French scene, from emerging artists to major figures from the 20th and 21st centuries. Furthermore, we are not a private foundation, but a non-profit organization tasked with public interest initiatives and independent from any business or personal interests. Large is supported by the Fonds de Dotation Emerige but will also work with other partners. For the inaugural exhibition, we have had the privilege of working in partnership with Groupe Renault and its Fonds pour l’Art et la Culture. Large’s location—to the west of Paris and accessible by the metro and tram—also contributes to our singularity and enables us to address a local audience.

The inaugural exhibition, “Imaginary Engine”, reconnects the site’s industrial past with contemporary artistic imagination. Why was this the right story with which to introduce Large to the public?

We wanted to show how this memory continues to inspire artists today. We could not imagine launching an artistic program on this island without referencing its past. Groupe Renault’s history is made up at once of industrial innovation, workers’ struggle and social progress. It even has an artistic dimension thanks to Renault’s Research, Art and Industry program, which saw artists invited to create within the factory itself. This exhibition attempts to engage with all these subjects through the works of different artists.

What are some of the highlight pieces of the exhibition?

In 1981, Renault acquired one of Jean Tinguely’s major works, “Requiem pour une Feuille Morte”. The result of Tinguely’s close links to the manufacturer in the 1960s, this monumental, 11-meter-long sculpture is made up of moving cogs, gears and pulleys, which work together to animate, in a deeply poetic gesture, a tiny white leaf. Amongst the new works commissioned for the exhibition is a piece by Bertrand Lavier, who has revisited an iconic Formula 1 racing car, covering it in the famous pattern inspired by Van Gogh’s brushstrokes that can be found in a number of his works. Bianca Bondi has meanwhile created an installation where the body of a Renault 9 lies amidst a landscape of tall grass. Its motor has been transformed into a colorful, crystalline pond, evoking the metamorphosis of materials. Finally, in a large-format painting, Giulia Andreani takes up the history of the Groupe Femmes at Renault, a collective that worked throughout the 1970s to promote women’s rights within the company.

Nearly a third of the artists in “Imaginary Engine” have created new commissions specifically for the exhibition. Why was commissioning 17 original works so important for the opening, rather than relying solely on established masterpieces, and what conversations were you hoping would emerge between these newly commissioned works and historical pieces from the Renault Collection?

Supporting and accompanying artists is a key priority for Large. We will be producing numerous new works, which will be presented to the public for the first time, offering them a unique experience. To mark the inaugural exhibition “Imaginary Engine”, we gave curator Cecilia Alemani and the invited artists carte blanche to create specific works—sculptures, paintings, photographs, videos, films, installations, etc.—based on the exhibition’s themes, from the question of work to the different relationships to human and mechanical temporalities. These new pieces dialog and act as counterpoints to historical works, a number of which were created thanks to the relationships that artists had developed with technicians and engineers in Boulogne in the 1960s and 1970s, with some even produced within the Renault factory itself. Contemporary issues such as overproduction were already being addressed by artists like Arman and Erró. Similarly, the theme of repetitive labor and assembly line production has also inspired artists of different generations, past and present.

Launching a completely new institution offers enormous freedom but also enormous pressure. What have been the greatest challenges in transforming an ambitious vision into a functioning museum—from assembling the team to defining its identity before the doors have even opened?

The first challenge was to endow a new institution that was only just coming into existence with an identity of its own. Thanks to its resonance with the French expression “prendre le large” (“to set sail”), the name “Large” carries with it a dual promise: that of a destination and that of departure towards new horizons. In this, it also recalls the topography of the site, which is surrounded by the Seine and where water and the distant horizon line offer a sense of freedom. Finally, the name reaffirms the center’s vocation: to address as broad a public as possible, expand imaginations and go beyond conventional formats. The second challenge came as a project imagined on paper became a real place. Thankfully, we were accompanied by the teams at Emerige, who are experts in construction. Seeing the transformation of plans and blueprints into a building through which we can now wander is a unique emotional experience. Finally, we had to bring together a team who shared the project’s ambition. For several months now, I have been lucky enough to be working alongside a brilliant group of collaborators who are putting all their energy into preparing the opening on October 17. It is this collective adventure that is today breathing life into Large. If I had to point to one decision of which I am particularly proud, it would be the choice to offer free entry to young people under 26. From its opening day, Large must be a welcoming and accessible space open to different generations.

This article was originally published on Forbes.com