Timeline

Key figures

Origin and history

The Consortium Museum, based in Dijon, is a contemporary art centre managed since 1977 by the association Le Coin du Miroir, founded by Xavier Douroux and Franck Gautherot. It is the first art centre agreed by the Ministry of Culture in 1982, with the mission of producing, exhibiting and disseminating contemporary works. His approach is part of a critical and experimental approach, linked to the 1970s associative movements aimed at creating alternative and independent cultural spaces.

In its beginnings, the Consortium occupies modest spaces: a space of 30 m2 in an alternative bookshop, then an apartment-gallery on Rue Saumaise. In 1982, he moved to a former 600 m2 shop in the city centre, before investing in 1991 an old 4,000 m2 liquor factory on the outskirts. This building, designed in 1943 by architect Hostettler in a post-Bauhaus style, was renovated and expanded in 2011 by Shigeru Ban and Jean de Gastines, offering today 2,000 m2 of exhibition space.

The Consortium has established itself as a major player in contemporary art, collaborating with international artists such as Daniel Buren, Yayoi Kusama and Pierre Huyghe. In 2008, he contributed to Mark Leckey's Industrial Light & Magic exhibition, awarded by Turner Prize. At the same time, he is developing international projects, notably in South Korea with Gwangju's Asia Culture Center (2015), and creating satellite spaces such as Le Mur Saint-Bon in Paris (2016), dedicated to temporary artistic interventions.

The association also participated in the creation of Anna Sanders Films, a production company founded with artists such as Philippe Parreno and Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster. Its history reflects a constant desire for innovation, combining associative engagement, reflection on the role of art and openness to various audiences, while sanctifying in the urban fabric of Dijon.

Today, the Consortium remains a reference point for the contemporary artistic scene, combining monographic or collective exhibitions, artist residences and cultural actions. His model, born of a militant dynamic, continues to influence mediation and artistic production practices in France and abroad.

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