Camille Benarab-Lopez, digital sketch of the works Fleurs 1 and Fleurs 2, 2026
Courtesy of the artist, © Adagp, Paris, 2026
sous la sécheresse de la formule
Camille Benarab-Lopez's exhibition
21 Feb. — 9 May 2026
In her practice, Camille Benarab-Lopez (born in 1989, lives and works in Ivry-sur-Seine) summons forms that reveal silent inheritances, the scars of lived experience, and lives diverted from their ideal paths. Using visual elements, sculptures, installations, literary works, and oral histories, she establishes a dialogue between visual and textual archives, signs and symbols.
The exhibition sous la sécheresse de la formule [beneath the dryness of the formula] presents Camille Benarab-Lopez’s research on the will, conducted during her residency at La Galerie from September 2025 to April 2026. Approached from a point of view that melds intimate, sociological, political, and symbolic, the will—and by extension inheritance—allows her to engage a sensitive reflection on our relationships with our family and our communities, past and present.
Brought together in an evolving exhibition, works based on texts written by invited authors and participants in various workshops held during the residency invite visitors to explore the ineffable, reinvent transmission, and rethink our emotional bonds.
With texts by Julien Delmaire, Diadié Dembélé, Hélène Giannecchini, Vinciane Mandrin, Anne Pauly, Laura Vazquez, Amadou, AKA SP, Amine Bengliz, Arouna, Chichi_93, Chimal, (DH_93), Elyes, Exaucé Lusanga, Glody, IB, Jabran, JR, Léo, Mohamed, Rahil, Sylla, TVS, Vanio, Anonyme, Inès, Karima Arbouche, Kostiantyn Gaiduk, Leïla Boutiche, Mansoor, Mohsinah, M.G.R., Sermine, SP, Anne-Marie Winkopp, Evelyne, Françoise, Geneviève, Marie-Christine, Médecin, Michèle D., Titus, V.A.M.
Camille Benarab-Lopez’s residency is supported by the Seine-Saint-Denis Department.
Residency “sous la sécheresse de la formule” from September 2025 to April 2026.
Saturday 11 April 2026, 7pm-9pm
Readings and performances evening to launch the edition produced as part of Camille Benarab-Lopez’s residency
Free and open to all
Saturday 25 April 2026, 2pm-5 pm
Collective reading of Mélanie Plouviez’s book L’injustice en héritage
Limited places, registration required
Saturday 7 March 2026
Saturday 4 April 2026
Saturday 9 May 2026
5pm-5:30pm
From focused insights to unexpected perspectives, each visit encourage discussion while allowing room for multiple interpretations of the works
Free and open to all
Saturday 21 March 2026
Wednesday 22 April 2026
10am-11am
Playful exploration of the exhibition for parents and children aged 0 to 3
Limited places, registration required
Saturdays from 2:30pm to 4pm, except for school holidays
Free, registration required
“Petits trésors” with artists Kim Bradford and Laura Burucoa
From one session to another, participants explore memory and transmission. They first make notebooks, some personal, others collective, to record their drawings. These are then transformed into modeled sculptures and wooden stamps, which are in turn used to reprint their creations in the notebooks. Enriched throughout the workshops by these different actions, the notebooks become archival spaces, mirroring the collection of miniature objects created by the collective.
Saturday 21 February 2026
Workshop in partnership with the Roger-Gouhier media library
Saturday 9 May 2026
With your parents around a snack
Visit (45 minutes to 1h) – ages 0 to 3
This format offers playful visits for groups from childcare facilities. These visits combine group activities and free time to wander around the exhibition rooms, discovering modules and activities designed in connection with the works.
Visit (45 minutes to 1h) – pre-school
The mediation team tailors each visit to the participants. This format offers an opportunity to discover the exhibitions through discussion and sharing experiences, combined with creative activities inspired by the works.
Visit and workshop (2h) – elementary school
- “La fabrique des fantômes” with artist Laura Burucoa
Using a collection of ghosts images, participants are invited to use collage techniques to fill reproductions of old postcards of Noisy-le-Sec with ghostly figures. On the back of the card, participants who wish to do so can write a letter from the ghost’s point of view.
- “Signatures” with artist Kim Bradford
After discussing the function and symbolism of signatures, participants explore this graphic gesture through a series of automatic drawing exercises. They will collectively perform their signatures in a human chain of drawings, each person extending and transforming the inscription of the person before them.
Visit and workshop (2×1h30) – pre-school
- “Qui-est-ce ?” with artist Kim Bradford
Using a collection of historical seals as inspiration, participants design and draw symbols that represent them, like personal emblems. They then turn their drawings into monotype prints, a technique that involves painting or inking an image onto a smooth surface and then transferring it onto paper using hand pressure.
Visit and workshop (2×1h30) – elementary school
- “Mémoires gravées” with artist Laura Burucoa
First encounters, everyday moments that have become memorable, or major struggles: what memories make up our family and cultural heritage? Participants are invited to share and record a moment that is important to them, then draw their memory on metal plates to be embossed.
- “Courrier” with artist Kim Bradford
What object would we like to pass on to a loved one? Participants will answer this question through drawing. Once they have drawn their “heritage object” they will slip it into a transparent envelope made using origami techniques. Each participant will then be able to address it to the person of their choice, in a gesture of transmission.
-
“Petits pieds” with artist Kim Bradford
Participants draw patterns and symbols that represent them on pieces of felt. These will then be transformed into little booties, reminiscent of the first gift often received before even learning to walk. Next, they will assemble these elements using large needles and wool yarn, symbolizing the bond between generations.
Download here: