Soleil·s

Launched in 2022 in the Neth­er­lands by design­ers Pauline van Dongen and Marjan van Aubel, the Solar Bien­nale provides a plat­form for reflec­tion on the chal­lenges of solar energy. For this second edition, mudac will broaden the theme by bring­ing together design­ers, curat­ors, activ­ists, and research­ers to explore expan­ded perspect­ives on how to approach ecolo­gical trans­ition.

Far from limit­ing itself to a single, socially construc­ted vision, Sun·s will address the symbolic, polit­ical, prac­tical, and aesthetic dimen­sions of solar energy.

Four main themes will be considered :

Recog­nising the multi­fa­ceted nature of the sun, mudac is collab­or­at­ing with insti­tu­tions such as HEAD, ECAL, ZHDK, and several EPFL entit­ies to foster the neces­sary inter­dis­cip­lin­ary approach. New commis­sions have been entrus­ted to design­ers, and a part­ner­ship with publish­ing house La Volte will result in the public­a­tion of a collec­tion of short stor­ies, Solar Punk, celeb­rat­ing the power of fiction to imagine bright futures.

• The exhib­i­tion at mudac will present a fun-filled, multi-discip­lin­ary programme combin­ing install­a­tions, objects, films, innov­at­ive mater­i­als, immers­ive spaces and parti­cip­at­ory features, includ­ing many new creations. Soleil·s invites visit­ors to imagine, explore and dream of bright futures where energy, culture and innov­a­tion come together to meet contem­por­ary chal­lenges.
• At the same time, several major events will be taking place at EPFL, includ­ing an exhib­i­tion at Archi­zoom, in connec­tion with archi­tec­ture, and an  exhib­i­tion of projects from the Enter the Hyper Scientific programme at the EPFL Pavil­ions (Pavil­lon A), created by the artists in resid­ence Alice Buck­nell, Mattew Wilson and Emilia Tapprest.