water marks

21 June → 06 July 2025
Opening and performances: 21 June 2025, 11h - 18h (meeting at the Casino)

With Ana Alenso, Céleste Cherche, Arthur Debert, Lola Göller, Klara Hobza, Shana Moulton, Natasha Papadopoulou, Russell Perkins, Johanna Rocard, Alisson Schmitt, Bruno Silva, Lara Tabet, Anaïs Touchot, Marjolaine Turpin and Benjamin Zuber.

Curated by Carola Uehlken & Isabelle Henrion

water marks is an exhibition set in the unique context of the town of Royat and its natural and architectural heritage. 15 artists from the local, national and international scene take over the active thermal baths, the gaming rooms of the Casino Partouche, the public space of the Parc Thermal, historic sites such as the Pavillon St. Mart and community rooms such as the Coin du curiste. Each of these venues offers a different sensory and symbolic experience, with their own specific constraints and access regulations.

The proximity of the Casino and the Thermal Baths is intriguing: What are the links between the natural flow of water and the virtual flow
of money? To this day, we have inherited a Napoleonic law dating back to 1806 that only authorised the opening of casinos in towns that had thermal baths or seaside resorts. Drawing on this curious connection, water marks takes
a critical and playful look at the links between leisure, gambling, rituals, healthcare and the flow of capital. The exhibition invites to reflect on the way in which history, laws and architecture impose a structured framework for looking at public spaces, shaping usage and behaviour.

In nature, the term ‘water marks’ refers to the traces left by water on a dry surface. In the administrative field, it refers to the marks used to trace copyright infringements and to authenticate banknotes. In both cases, ‘water marks’ are evidence of a natural or a bureaucratic activity. The title of the exhibition thus suggests an interdependence between natural and administrative processes. Does the value of water, or more precisely the value of nature, imply specific urban planning? How can we think about sustainability and biodiversity when they are primarily linked to the laws that govern access and development?

In their works, the artists navigate between the macroworlds of the economy and the microworlds inside their own bodies. They play with the banal, redundant administration that governs our lives, and reveal its absurdities. They question our contemporary anxieties and concerns, proposing spaces for contemplation, reflection and the reappropriation of our bodies within our built environment.

The exhibition is produced by Artistes en Résidence & La Tôlerie

With the genorous support of la Ville de Royat, of the Clermont Auvergne Métropole, of the DRAC Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, of the Département du Puy-de-Dôme, of the Ville de Clermont-Ferrand, de l’Hôtel Fontfreyde, of the Fonds de dotation La Petite Escalère and the l’ADAGP.

Detailed program here
Design: Lea Audouze and Margot Duvivier

exhibition

opening and performances