Global Symposium : Montparnasse et ses héritages

Organised by Reid Hall of Columbia University and the Columbia Global Paris Center, in collaboration with the associations L'AiR Arts and Cité Falguière, this symposium marks the launch of 'Montparnasse International', a programme born from a community-driven initiative aimed at reaffirming the Montparnasse district as the historic epicentre of artistic creation and intercultural exchange.

Montparnasse has long been recognised internationally as a cradle of artistic creation, renowned for the multicultural and heterogeneous avant-garde that flourished there at the dawn of the twentieth century. French artists and creators from around the world were drawn to the district, then renowned for its artistic effervescence, its spirit of innovation and the radical freedom that characterised it. Yet despite its close ties to some of the most famous figures of the century — notably Brâncuși, Soutine, Zadkine, Foujita, Modigliani, Picasso and many others — Montparnasse remains a global creative ecosystem that is markedly under-studied and under-theorised.

While the first École de Paris (1905–1940) is responsible for the district's reputation and legend, Montparnasse's artistic culture continued to shine into the post-war period, animated by figures such as Alberto Giacometti, Yves Klein, Niki de Saint Phalle, Agnès Varda, Frans Krajcberg and Claude de Soria. Today, the legacy of the École de Paris stands as a powerful historical model of cultural openness, at a time when the need for intercultural dialogue is more pressing than ever.

This symposium aims to bring together currently disparate yet closely connected lines of research — spanning art history, museum studies, cultural anthropology, disability studies, gender studies and queer theory — in order to launch a long-term reflection on the creative ecosystem of Montparnasse, both past and present. In doing so, we seek to re-examine the relationship between Montparnasse's creators and the place where they lived, asking what made — and continues to make — this district a unique site of global creative fusion.