Louise Hervé & Clovis Maillet

Art and research are closely interrelated in the work of artist duo Louise Hervé and Clovis Maillet. After studying art history and historical anthropology, in 2001 they founded the International Institute for Important Items – or I.I.I.I. Their art brings together historic sources and fieldwork, exploring how knowledge is built and passed on. They use their performances as laboratories for their research, which also comprises genre films, installations and publications.

Their polyphonic solo and group shows illustrate the multiple facets of their practice, whether at the Crédac in Ivry, the Kunsthal in Aarhus or, in 2020, the Busan Biennale in South Korea. Herve and Maillet’s performances and films are shown at exhibitions and festivals in France (Hors Pistes, Centre Georges Pompidou, Lyon’s Les Inattendus) and across the world (Festival Lo schermo dell’arte, Florence, Dallas Contemporary). Louise Hervé and Clovis Maillet are represented by Marcelle Alix gallery in Paris.

Louise Hervé and Clovis Maillet continue their investigation into the relationship between performance, reconstruction and historic knowledge. Their project at Villa Kujoyama followed on from Spectacles Sans Objets (2016) which fused film, publications and performance. In the western world, cultural property and historic monuments are seen as material objects, and this view underpins the notion of restoration. In Japan, both the objects themselves and the techniques that serve to restore, maintain and preserve them are equally protected. Shûfuku observed these moments when technical and historical knowledge is shared, to compile a repertoire of shapes, movements and sounds, and collect the tools needed to reconstruct a performance.