The high-profile French artist and curator Jean-Marc Bustamante will launch a foundation in Arles in the south of France in summer next year. The Fondation Bustamante, based in a 12th-century church, will house Bustamante’s works and archive and will also host contemporary art exhibitions.
“My goal is to position the foundation among the exceptional cultural offerings of the city, providing support and visibility to artists from all generations and to young exhibition curators, critics and historians from around the world,” Bustamante tells The Art Newspaper.
The curator is promising “to champion artists of all ages through a diverse and bold exhibition programme”, which he will oversee, and also present a series of education “masterclasses”. Works will be shown over three floors of the Sainte-Croix church which will be designed by the architect Charles Zana.
A project statement says: “The Fondation Bustamante will be directed by its founder with the support of a board composed of leading figures from the art world that represent its diversity and richness, including young artists, museum directors, curators, and academics.” These appointments are to be announced.
Asked about funding, Bustamante says that in order to ensure full autonomy, he has decided to establish a “family council” responsible for preserving and promoting his work at the Fondation Bustamante.
The foundation joins a host of other cultural organisations in Arles including LUMA Arles and the Fondation Van Gogh. “Arles is today in France and Europe, with the exception of Venice, a place of enormous cultural importance, with no equivalent,” Bustamante says.
Bustamante represented France at the São Paulo Biennale in 1994 and the Venice Biennale in 2003. He was also director of the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts (ENSBA), France’s national arts academy in Paris, from 2015 to 2018.
His tenure as director was controversial; his contract was not renewed following allegations of sexual harassment made by students against some of the academies teachers. Bustamante subsequently criticised the French culture ministry for lack of support.
Asked if the foundation is an important part of his legacy, he says: “I have the singularity of having been interested in teaching after a very rich artistic career, having successively been a professor at the Rijksakademie in Amsterdam, the Kunstakademie in Munich, and finally director of the Beaux-Arts in Paris with a desire for reforms which was not always easy.
“With the Fondation Bustamante I am pursuing the aim of perpetuating the legacy of a life dedicated to the most demanding art, while remaining aware that new models need to be invented and that many [art] historical gaps need to be addressed and brought to light.”