The Culture department of the French group Chargeurs (Chargeurs Museum Studio) is making its first move into France by acquiring a 52% stake in the Grand Palais Immersif. This subsidiary of the Grand Palais was created in 2022 alongside Banque des Territoires and Vinci Immobilier to open a space dedicated to immersive exhibitions in the “Modular Room” of the Opéra Bastille. The decision on the subsidiary’s manager has not yet been formally taken, but it is likely that CMS will be the captain. The teams in place, around ten employees, will keep their same employer, while Delphine de Canecaude, CEO of CMS, will take the helm. “for a while” she explained to the Arts Journal. She will be supported in this task by an artistic committee in which the GrandPalaisRmn intends to play its full part. Charles Carcopino, the artistic director of the immersive Grand Palais, has been confirmed in his role.
Is this a statement of failure for the GrandPalaisRmn? While the attendance figures are not outrageous (100,000 visitors for “Venice Rediscovered” and “Loading. Urban Art in the Digital Age”, and 162,000 for “Mucha”), we are very far from the million annual visitors for the Ateliers des Lumières of Culturespaces.
The shareholders have not said whether they will put money back into the company, but for Delphine de Canecaude, “Chargers wants to balance the accounts in the first year”. It is counting on the new editorial line that will focus on the creative process of artists through monographs such as the one on the digital artist Miguel Chevalier this fall, major artistic movements or ancient cities. It is also counting on the international marketing of the exhibition catalog thus created.
In any case, it is an important operation for CMS, which finally has a site in France, even though it is the originator and administrator of numerous museums around the world.
