If you like contemporary art, you might like the walks of the TRAM association in the Ile-de-France region.

If contemporary art can divide, perhaps it is partly because a part of the general public doesn’t know how to approach it. Luckily there are many initiatives to make them known (because it is not always necessary to understand things to appreciate them), without necessarily having the impression of attending a conference. This is the case of TRAM (acronym for Artistic mediation of the broadcast regionname which also recalls the idea of ​​framework, mobility and network).

This association founded in 1981 brings together places involved in the production and dissemination of contemporary art in the Île-de-France. Whether you are passing through the region or live there, TRAM allows you to know what is worth seeing in the area, and above all to go in a group, between beginners and amateurs, history to meet around common passions and curiosities, in complete conviviality.

And this, in particular, thanks to TaxiTram (half days or days to visit 2-3 art places by coach) and RandoTram (visit 2-3 art places, this time on foot). On Saturday 9 September 2023, the RandoTram visited LE BAL, the Ygrec Art Center – ENSAPC, then Les Laboratoires d’Aubervilliers. And if these names don’t mean anything to you even if you live in the area, it’s clearly a sign you could benefit from coming for a walk and enjoying the TRAM network, as the collective explains to us.

Interview with the TRAM network that (re)discovers the places of contemporary art in the Île-de-France

When and how was TRAM born, with what mission?

Forerunner of the current network, the association Information arts plastics in Île-de-France (IAPIF) was founded in December 1981 by Thierry Sigg (Centre d’art d’Ivry-sur-Seine) and Jacques Guillot (Centre Culturel Jacques Prévert de Villeparisis) and plastic arts managers from different establishments on the outskirts of Paris to carry out information and external relations work and to allow its members to discuss their practice, meet and reflect on the production of common artistic events.

Since its creation, it is a network of activist professionals very active in the field of visual arts in Île-de-France. It quickly gathered many other members around one main mission: the dissemination of contemporary creation to the widest possible audience, thus promoting the work of artists and authors to as many people as possible.

How are the places that compose it today selected?

When it was created in 1981, TRAM had 8 founding members, all located outside Paris. The association now has 35 members including 11 Parisian branches. In the last two years, the network has seen the entry of 5 new art venues: in 2021, the Center Wallonie- Brussels│Paris, Le Houloc in Aubervilliers (93) and the Institute of Islamic Cultures in Paris and in 2022 , La Crypte d’Orsay (91) and W in Pantin (93).

Applications to join the TRAM are open to art venues (legal entities) in the Ile-de-France region that are able to:

• Demonstrate the existence of a long-lasting and ambitious artistic and cultural project in the contemporary art sector of Ile-de-France with delegated management of a project and a budget, autonomy over the artistic direction of its structure and duration of existence of the project (3 years).
• Affirm a work ethic and demonstrate exemplary nature in terms of remuneration and support for guest artists, authors and personalities, but also in terms of working and managerial methods (or team management/support) within the requesting structure.
• Demonstrate an activity of producing works or artistic productions.
• Propose a mediation policy and artistic and cultural education actions.
• That the programmers or artistic directors (natural persons) representing the participating legal entities are recognized as experts in the field of contemporary art.
• Benefit from the sponsorship of three members of the TRAM network.

To what extent does TRAM also contribute to making the suburbs known and recognized as places of production, diffusion and teaching of contemporary art?

Equality of speech among all its members, very strong desire not to make any distinction on the boundaries between the territories represented and what derives from it in terms of communication (identical treatment of information on the planning of places and their diffusion): all this contributes to a discovery and/or better recognition by the public of all places and finally, we hope, erases the mental boundaries between Paris and the municipalities of the 8 departments of the Ile-de-France region. TaxiTram and RandoTram, which take the public to discover exhibitions in the art venues of the network in the four corners of the Île-de-France, have also had great participation for more than 20 years.

What are TaxiTrams?

Born in the early 2000s, the TaxiTrams (which take place on average once a month) invite the public to discover contemporary creation through exhibitions in the art venues of the TRAM network. For half a day or a full day, participants travel by coach to the Île-de-France to visit two or three member locations and “friendly” facilities of the network. On the occasion of this friendly event, the TRAM team and the venue teams are mobilized to guarantee welcome, mediation and special moments in the company of artists, exhibition curators, mediators and directors.

And what are RandoTrams?

Established in 2014, RandoTrams are walking tours between two or three locations that are members of the network. Designed by the TRAM team of employees, the routes focus on the territories in which the places visited are located and aim to enhance the architectural and landscape heritage of the Île-de-France. To ensure the fluidity of walking in urban areas, RandoTram groups are limited to around twenty people in order to encourage meetings and discussions between participants, but also with speakers and artist-authors.

Which audience are these TaxiTram and RandoTram initiatives aimed at, which allow you to discover contemporary art in a different way, in groups and while roaming?

Predominantly female (73% women in 2022), the public on TRAM routes is not necessarily specialized in contemporary art but rather a curious public eager for discoveries and who nevertheless have the habit of frequenting places of culture in general (87% have a strong cultural activity).

Participants residing in Paris represent 59% of those registered for the TaxiTram in 2022, and 50% for the RandoTram, the meeting points of the routes being deliberately placed in the large Parisian squares and close to the metro and RER stations and allowing anyone come from the Ile-de -Region of France to reach them easily. Some residents from other regions who travel to Île-de-France on weekends sometimes join the group of participants. Since the mediations are held in French, audiences from abroad are rarer but occasionally participate in the walks. Courses are often full!

When the RandoTram was born we noticed an evolution in the participants because the trips were made on foot. The audience is mostly made up of men and the participants are a little younger, probably due to the physical exercise to be carried out during the course (although the walk is not very brisk and generally represents about ten kilometers per outing).

Likewise, the Nuit Blanche courses which take place in the evening and at night are attended by a younger audience who have sometimes recently discovered the system thanks to specific communication and via external partners.

TRAM also organizes courses for professionals, high school students and 7pm residents^And district of Paris (these are actions in favor of the residents of the neighborhood where the association is based and in collaboration with neighboring associations).

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