In Cannes, La Malmaison closer to the stars

It took La Malmaison a long time to find its way. Built in 1868, five years after the neighboring Grand Hôtel, the elegant villa on the Croisette served as an annex for the hotel's servants, a private residence, and, from 1969, property of the Cannes municipality, which installed services there and then used it as an exhibition space. Recently renovated for €11 million, La Malmaison became, in January, the contemporary art center that Cannes was missing.

Behind its white façade framed by two tall palm trees, the building houses 600 square meters of exhibition space on three floors and a boutique. On its roof, a 150-square-meter panoramic terrace, the only rooftop on the Croisette, offers breathtaking views of the bay. For architect Nelson Wilmotte, who calls it "the emblematic jewel of the Croisette," "the objective was clear: to preserve the charm of this 19th ^- century Cannes villa, while harmoniously integrating it into a contemporary perspective."

The first exhibition, "Luxury, Calm and Voluptuousness," which has just ended, attracted 27,000 spectators. The one that will begin on May 17, in the middle of the Cannes Film Festival, will bring together around fifty works by Jean-Michel Othoniel under the name "Stardust." "An exploration launched in search of the marvelous lost in our real world," in the words of the visual artist, who adds: "My exhibition at La Malmaison is a tribute to this gold of fallen stars, to this stardust that covers my works."

Following this emblematic place of the city's new cultural policy, Cannes should have, by 2029, a museum dedicated to contemporary African art, which will exhibit part of the Jean Pigozzi collection, an exceptional donation of 1,688 works, including paintings, sculptures, installations, videos and photographs.