"Rejouer le réel": The Image as a Staged Space
From 8 July to 9 September 2026, the Grand Théâtre de Bordeaux hosts “Rejouer le réel”, an exhibition co-organised with the Opéra National de Bordeaux and the Societe Generale Corporate Art Collection, with the support of SG SUD OUEST. Presented as part of the “Generation !” programme and conceived by exhibition curator Julia Marchand, it explores the artwork as a space of action and narration.
“Rejouer le réel” explores the artwork as a space of action and staging, where the image does not merely represent but constructs its own narrative conditions. Painting, drawing, and tapestry unfold spaces conceived as so many fictive scenes, in which reality is recomposed, re-enacted, and filtered.
Bringing together ten artists, the exhibition examines pictorial space as a form of open-ended narration, situated between décor, motif, and mental architecture. Each work operates as a scenographic device in which forms, figures, and colours become the protagonists of a deliberately enigmatic narrative.
Conceived in dialogue with the Opéra National de Bordeaux, the exhibition unfolds like a season: figures—predominantly female—and successive “tableaux” follow one another, offering as many worlds to explore. Presented within this emblematic building of Bordeaux’s architectural heritage, the works invite visitors to discover the Grand Théâtre differently, through a parcours that brings disciplines and perspectives into dialogue.
The exhibition brings together the following artists:
Farah Atassi, Sylvain Brugière, Sonia Delaunay, Thomas Demand, Sacha Floch Poliakoff, Clédia Fourniau, Manon Pellan, Georges Tony Stoll, Ulla von Brandenburg and Joon Yoo.
Inaugurated at the Arsenal, headquarters of Société Générale Luxembourg, in autumn 2025, the Génération ! programme will continue in the autumn in La Défense, then in Paris and Bucharest at the end of the year.
Practical information
REJOUER LE RÉEL
Grand Théâtre de Bordeaux – 8 July to 9 September
Free admission, Tuesday to Saturday, 1:30 pm to 6:00 pm, excluding public holidays
Information: Opéra de Bordeaux
