The objective is clear: "Reduce our environmental impact by 20% compared to last year", told AFP the general commissioner of the fair, Guillaume Piens.

The event is held until Sunday at the ephemeral Grand Palais, a temporary structure installed near the Eiffel Tower pending the end of the restoration work on the Grand Palais, which is due to reopen in 2024.

"We digitized documents to limit the use of paper, redid the + homepage + of the site which consumed a lot of energy. For the VIPs, this year there will be a fleet of electric vehicles", but also a "restaurant without meat “or even champagne served “in cornstarch cups”, he explains.

Switching to more efficient lighting should also reduce the electricity bill by "62.5%".

The three tons of scraped cotton that covers the walls, as well as the three tons of carpets, usually burned after use, will be recycled for use in the construction industry, assures the director of "Art Paris".

The 2022 edition wants to take this ecological turn in order to reduce its waste production, which was 16 tonnes last year, with the reception of more than 70,000 visitors.

The organization has therefore bet on "eco-design": the polluting items have all been identified and alternatives found.

Visitors to the contemporary art fair "Art Paris", organized on the theme of ecology, on April 6, 2022 at the ephemeral Grand Palais, in Paris STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN AFP

Regarding the transport of works of art, if its overall carbon footprint has not been precisely determined, the galleries have played the game of public transport to reduce the number of trucks required and opted for more ecological packaging.

"Generational effect"

On the artistic side, several exhibitors have "spontaneously" joined the movement by betting on creations devoting nature, remarks Alfred Pacquement, independent curator.

Precursors of the genre, ahead of the concerns of their time, are thus returning to center stage.

The young guard, more politicized and in tune with the times, is propelled into the spotlight with lithographs showing melting ice, structures in relief from recycling, or landscapes exposed to climate change.

Visitors to the contemporary art fair "Art Paris", organized on the theme of ecology, on April 6, 2022 at the ephemeral Grand Palais, in Paris STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN AFP

"The theme might have seemed old-fashioned ten or fifteen years ago. Today, artists are less shy about this subject", underlines Mr. Pacquement, speaking of a "generational effect" linked to current events.

“When you are an artist”, being interested in “the issues of your time is inevitable”, confirms Alice Audouin, associate curator, who speaks of a “generation (of artists) born with the ecological crisis”.

Visitors to the contemporary art fair "Art Paris", organized on the theme of ecology, on April 6, 2022 at the ephemeral Grand Palais, in Paris STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN AFP

Elsa Guillaume's "sliced ​​fish", which evoke reconstituted food, refers to "industrialization and intensive fishing".

The pyramid of jerrycans by Romuald Hazoumé refers to the massive exploitation of oil in Africa, explains Ms. Audouin.

Others use natural materials such as dust, rust or “dead skin recovered from podiatrists” to express their commitment.

"I collect my materials and my ideas in the forest", says Vincent Laval, another artist who calls himself "eco-responsible" and "militant".

"Bark of felled trees", "real ant on a calabash" and even a gong made of braided dead branches: so many "forgotten" objects to which he wants to give a second life.

Many artists also contribute financially to actions in favor of the preservation of the environment, by donating part of the proceeds of their sales.

Visitors to the contemporary art fair "Art Paris", organized on the theme of ecology, on April 6, 2022 at the ephemeral Grand Palais, in Paris STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN AFP

Future buyers of a piece from the "Amazonia" series by Lucy and Jorge Orta will thus become "moral owners" and "symbolic protectors" of one square meter of Amazonian forest, on one hectare acquired by the couple, explains their gallery owner Marguerite. Milin.

© 2022 AFP