The Portuguese artist Joana Vasconcelos will create a new site-specific public art work for the new Tramway T3 Nord rail line, which passes through the 17th and 18th arrondissements of Paris. Vasconcelos, who is known for her elaborate knitted and crocheted installations, showed a chandelier sculpture made of thousand of tampons (The Bride, 2001-5) at the 2005 Venice Biennale.
The Tramway T3 art initiative is funded by the local government body, City of Paris, which has provided around €2.8m. Local communities have played a part in selecting the works, under a scheme launched by the non-profit Fondation de France called “Nouveaux commanditaires” (new patrons).
“The residents of the area around the Porte de Clignancourt, who are associated with the Maison Bleue Porte Montmartre [community centre], will work on the art project with Vasconcelos,” says a statement from the City of Paris.
The T3 tram line, which launched in 2006, runs from Pont du Garigliano in the south-west around the city periphery to Porte de la Chapelle in the north. The line is due to be extended another 4.3 kilometres, from la Porte de la Chapelle to la Porte d’Asnières, covering eight new stations.
Anastassia Makridou-Bretonneau, the artistic director at the City of Paris, has commissioned three other artists to create new works for the T3 public transport scheme—Alain Bublex, Bruno Peinado, Pierre Malphettes—along with the architect Odile Decq, who will modify the Tunnel Berthier. The public art pieces are due to be unveiled late 2018.
Meanwhile, the SNCF, France’s state-owned railway company, has decorated five of its suburban RER trains running on a main commuter route into Paris with scenes depicting famous parts of the Palace of Versailles.
A plastic film covering the ceilings, window frames and seats show areas of the royal chateau such as Louis XVI’s library, the 17th-century Latona Fountain, and the Hall of Mirrors ceiling. The initiative was launched in 2012 when seven different features of the Versailles chateau featured on a fleet of RER trains. G.H.