Oliver Beer’s immersive exhibition at the Musée d’Art Moderne in Paris created from 3,600 children’s drawings

Have you ever noticed that we are all artists as children? In our early years, we all drew or played music. What is it that makes most of us stop these practices when we grow up? Why do we learn not to be artists ??

These questions drive artist Oliver Beer so, with the Reanimation Paintings: A Thousand Voices project carried out in partnership with the Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris, he has invited 3,600 children to take part in a participatory artwork currently on show – and free of charge! It’s a way of bringing the children’s drawings into the museum’s collections and, who knows, inspiring some of them to become artists themselves…

Article produced in collaboration with the Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris

3600 children’s drawings…

Between October 2024 and January 2025, the Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris welcomed 3,600 children. They all came to reinterpret, through drawing or sound, four works from the museum’s collections, chosen by British artist Oliver Beer : Stereofigure by Victor Brauner, Sylvie (grosse tête) by Nina Childress, Rythme by Sonia Delaunay and Buste de chanteuse de face, by Georges Rouault.

After this artistic activity, all the children were able to discover the work they had just reinterpreted in the museum.

… in a shared work

Oliver Beer then collected all the drawings and sound recordings created by the children. The drawings were scanned and then printed onto 16mm film at a rate of 12 frames per second, resulting in the creation of a 10-minute video montage.

The video is accompanied by a 30-minute soundtrack based on recordings made by the children.

An immersive and soothing exhibition

You might think that, because it’s created from children’s drawings, this exhibition would lose quality : it doesn’t. We find ourselves totally absorbed by these projections, by these thousands of drawings that parade before our eyes.

Oliver Beer has imagined it as an ” exhibition that cuddles us “. A Thousand Voices captivates and draws us in. You could spend hours contemplating this creation.

All around the room, the walls are covered with the children’s drawings, which will join the museum’s collections at the end of the exhibition, along with Oliver Beer’s four films.

I really urge you to check out this original and soothing exhibition, especially as it’s free! So there’s no excuse not to go 😉

Practical information

Article produced in collaboration with the Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris
With the exception of the portrait of Oliver Beer, the photographs illustrating this article are the property of Culturez-vous and may not be reused without permission.

Antoine Vitek

Happy father of Culturez-vous! I am passionate about art, culture, heritage and travel.

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