Timeline

Key figures

Origin and history

The CAPC (Centre d'arts plastiques contemporain) was born in 1973 under the impetus of Jean-Louis Froment, as an associative space dedicated to emerging art. His first exhibition, Watching Elsewhere (1973), brings together artists like Claude Viallat or Gina Pane at the Palais de la Bourse. In 1975, he moved to the Lainé Warehouse, a former colonial hangar built between 1822 and 1824 to store goods from slavery, while conducting travelling projects in Europe.

In 1984, the CAPC became a municipal museum of contemporary art, with official status granted by the Ministry of Culture. The Lainé Warehouse, restored by architects Valode and Pistre and designer Andrée Putman (1984-1990), now houses a collection focused on conceptual art, minimal art and Land Art, with works by Sol LeWitt, Richard Serra or Mario Merz. The site extends over three levels, including a library and a memorial space in project since 2023 to discuss its connection to colonial history.

The collection, established since the 2000s, favours monographic ensembles rather than an exhaustive panorama. It has 1,000 works by 140 artists, including French figures (Daniel Buren, Annette Messenger) and Spanish figures (Cristina Iglesias, Miquel Barceló). The CAPC is labeled "Musée de France" (2002) and "Centre d'art contemporain d'intégration national" (2021). In 2023, its 50th anniversary revived the debate on the memory of slavery, leading to a commemorative space project planned for 2024.

The former Lainé Warehouse, classified as a historical monument, symbolizes both Bordeaux's colonial heritage and its cultural conversion. The building, originally designed by Claude Deschamps for transatlantic trade, now hosts exhibitions, concerts and workshops. Its industrial architecture, with 40 meters long and 1.5 meters wide for Richard Long's White Rock Line (1990), dialogue with contemporary creations. The tramway (line B, since 2007) now serves the site, anchoring CAPC in the urban landscape.

The founding exhibitions, such as For Memoirs (collective premiere in the Warehouse), marked the history of the place. CAPC also commissioned in situ facilities such as Long's mud circles (Garonne Mud Circles, 1990), using local materials. In 2023, tensions around colonial memory prompted the museum to review its museumography, with the support of the heritage assistant Baptiste Maurin and activist Karfa Diallo (Memoirs & Shares association).

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