Vers la paix perpétu-aile(s)

Curated by Jean-Baptiste Chantoiseau, a French curator and art historian, the exhibition explores the concepts of conflict, power, violence, individual freedom and responsibility through the work of five artists from different generations and artistic backgrounds.

Moving across such mediums as performance, photography, sculpture and conceptual practice, the exhibition investigates how exactly artists can confront difficult political and social realities while still preserving space for individual expression, disagreement and exchange.

Iconic figure in body and performance art, ORLAN will take part in a project. In her artistic practice she has challenged existing corporeal concepts, identity and representation since the 1960s. Today ORLAN works with performance, photography, sculpture, video and, more recently, artificial intelligence, robotics and biotechnology. With the help of it, she questions social and political conventions.

Her participation in The Wings of Peace is a logical continuation of a series of masterclass series "Leçons d'artiste" lectures that she presented in the Louvre in 2026 this year.

In one of the lectures she was speaking about the image of the dove. Within the project, this motif, as a result, develops in a wider reflection on peace - something that must be reconsidered against the realities of conflict. This concept has also given the title to the whole exhibition, being inspired by the artwork ORLAN presents at the exhibition - Vers la paix perpétu-aile(s) - sculpture, created with the use of 3D scanning and a body cast of the artist.

Esther Ferrer approaches key exhibition’s themes through artworks focused on the imagery of weapons. She places childhood associations and plays with the destructive function of these objects. Her artworks from the series Juguetes educativos (Educational Toys), which will be presented within the project, draw attention to the unsettling proximity between and collapsing boundaries as well.

Oleg Kulik, one of the defining figures of Moscow Actionism in the 1990s, is also taking part in a project. He works across such mediums as performance, photography and sculpture. His confrontational performances, including those in which he assumed an animal persona, explored the relationships between human and animals. In Paris, Kulik will present an artwork from his famous The Russian series - At the Church, created using photomontage and digital printing. This piece is dedicated to the exploration of the profound socio-cultural contradictions, absurdity and kitsch. Created in the 1990s, the artwork feels almost prophetic today, especially in light of ongoing international conflicts. It suggests an idea of catastrophe that has already happened, but its consequences are still unfolding and demanding our attention.

The exhibition also includes Léa Le Bricomte. She works with the physical and symbolic materials of war, altering their original meanings through transformation. As part of the project, she will present the installation Dripping Medals, made from original military medals and ribbons from the First World War, creating references to Jackson Pollock’s artworks. Artist associates both types of objects with conflict and moves them from their initial function through artistic intervention.

One more artist - Émeric Lhuisset has built his practice through direct engagement with high-risk environments and communities, which were affected by conflict. His work creates research on how people can reclaim their own histories, using images as a means of approaching experiences that are often represented from the outside. At the exhibition, artist will showcase J’entends au loin la réponse des cosaques (From far away, I hear the Cossacks' reply), a contemporary photographic reconstruction and interpretation of Ilya Repin's famous painting Reply of the Zaporozhian Cossacks.

Together, these different artistic approaches create a shared statement, at the same time allowing each to express their own perspective and leaving a space for individual interpretation.

Some approach violence directly, others work through the theme of body, symbolic concepts, memory or political imagery. This diversity of angles let The Wings of Peace explore the idea of conflict in different optiques.

Organised by French cultural and creative blog Bien En Place and Tora and Art Foundation the exhibition reflects its commitment to dialogue through contemporary art and support of independent cultural initiatives and collaborations. For its Paris initiative, the Foundation acts not simply as a supporter, but as an initiating cultural partner, bringing together internationally recognised artists whose practices offer distinct and sometimes provocative perspectives on the contemporary world.

In this center of Tora and Art Foundation approach is an understanding of art as a space where people, experiences and ideas can meet and keep the freedom of expression. In The Wings of Peace, this principle becomes part of the exhibition itself. The project approaches art not as a source of definitive answers, but as a means of keeping communication open: across different mediums, cultures and points of view.

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