The new Management of the Chaumont Festival, set up in 2002, focuses on diversity of content and usage of graphic design, as this might be interpreted in its broadest and most contemporary sense. For five years now, this point of departure has structured the Festival by means of a wide range of exhibitions, based on 4 major axes.
Present the contemporary reality of the graphic arts by comparing and contrasting the work and practices of French studios and workshops to European and international graphic artists, and give emerging talent an opportunity to exhibit their work, regardless of form and media used. Render the historical dimension of the graphic arts by organizing, each year, a monographic exhibition dedicated to an artist (or a movement).
To this end, the Festival enters into partnerships with leading institutions such as the Bibliothèque nationale de France (for the Cassandre exhibition in 2005), which clearly shows the Festival’s desire to forge long-term actions, establishing gateways between archive collections and contemporary creations, and thus encourage reflection and educational outreach initiatives both as regards students and the general public.
Give Posters their rightful status by developing relations with French and European schools, by reinforcing the International Competition, and by encouraging contemporary graphic artists to explore Poster archives. Make Chaumont a national and international platform bringing together professionals, students and the general public in ever increasing numbers, demanding and curious. Even though the Festival is, naturally, the highlight of the year, the consistency of its programming is also constructed throughout the years in a rhizomic acceptance which dresses a portrait of international creation which is esthetical, theoretical and historical.
This year, the festival includes numerous exhibitions, competitions and cultural programming.
