Maëla Bescond

Function: Director of Passages Contemporary Art Center, Troyes Country: France Visiting period: 28 October - 01 November

Maëla Bescond’s career path has been marked by independent projects alongside institutional experiences. After obtaining a Master’s degree in Exhibition Trades and Arts from the University of Rennes II, she founded and directed two artist-run spaces, STANDARDS in Rennes and apes&castles in Brussels, from 2008 to 2016.

She also worked as a conservation assistant and then as an assistant to the general secretariat at the Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris from 2012 to 2014, which provided her with valuable experience in curating exhibitions in a renowned museum context. From 2015 to 2021, she was in charge of the production and visual arts department at the Carreau du Temple in Paris, giving her extensive skills in managing larger-scale artistic projects, as well as her ability to work with multidisciplinary artists and collaborators. In 2021, she founded the Bassin Caresse project in Brest, which focuses on using vacant commercial spaces to organize temporary exhibitions, thus committing to the revitalization of urban space through an innovative project in her hometown. Her new project as starting in January 2023 focuses on solo and group exhibitions, artist residencies, and more experimental formats, including performance and writing, reflecting her ongoing commitment to contemporary creation and the exploration of new artistic forms.