From Paris to Shanghai: “Fabrice Hyber… de la vallée” opens at Power Station of Art

Successfully opened on April 1st, … de la vallée marks the sixth exhibition presented in collaboration between the Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain and the Power Station of Art in Shanghai. It has been a great pleasure for MB Projects to work with the Fondation Cartier and Cartier teams on this powerful and meaningful project. Congratulations to Fabrice Hyber on bringing it to life!

Photo©Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain

Stemming from the 2022 exhibition The Valley at the Fondation Cartier in Paris — which embraced a pedagogical approach and envisioned the exhibition as a kind of school — the Shanghai show … de la vallée (meaning “coming from the valley”) shifts the focus to bringing the vallée itself to Shanghai. Visitors are invited to enter this world through more than 70 works, spanning from the 1990s to Hyber’s most recent creations.

Fabrice Hyber is an incredibly versatile artist, working at the crossroads of multiple media. Yet two elements remain constant in his practice: painting — a discipline he returns to every day — and the vallée, the lifelong work that anchors his artistic journey. The son of sheep farmers, Hyber witnessed firsthand the rise of industrial agriculture in the Vendée region. Determined to preserve both the land and a way of life, he began sowing tree seeds in the 1990s — a gesture he has continued ever since. Today, that land has grown into a forest of 300,000 trees, spanning several hundred hectares. This landscape, in other words, has become a living work of art.

Photo©Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain

This valley has been both metaphorically and physically transplanted to Shanghai through paintings, videos, ceramics, and installations. Through these works, the artist seeks not only to share his knowledge and practice, but also to inspire visitors — within the scope of their own possibilities — to one day begin sowing their own valleys.

Fabrice Hyber envisioned the Shanghai exhibition as a space for sharing the learning that has emerged from the vallée. Throughout its run, weekly public programs will welcome visitors of all ages, offering a multidimensional experience of the art and ideas embedded in Hyber’s work. In addition, a diverse group of thinkers and practitioners — including philosophers, architects, mathematicians, neuroscientists, medical anthropologists, biologists, and experts in sustainable agriculture, native plant conservation, and wildlife protection — will come together in conversation to explore the themes at the heart of Hyber’s artistic practice.

… de la vallée is on view at the Power Station of Art in Shanghai until June 29, 2025.

“My works are messengers from the Valley, like thoughts sowing a vision for the future.”

— Fabrice Hyber

MB Projects is a leading agency in cultural strategy and management in China. It was founded by Marion Bertagna, a trilingual China specialist, with 25 years of experience in China and in the culture field. MB Projects assists international and Chinese cultural institutions, creative industry companies, and brands wishing to explore opportunities, develop activities, implement cultural projects, build partnerships, or extend their visibility in China.