The Picardy Frac
Picardy’s Regional Contemporary Arts Collection, or ‘Frac’, was created in 1983 and established in Amiens. It’s the only Frac with a contemporary design collection, and it’s one of the largest in both France and Europe.
A Frac which is reinventing itself
The Frac is currently home to over 1300 works of art by 250 artists, showing us contemporary design in its many forms, amongst which iconic figures of the French and international art scene can be found: Pierrette Bloch, Jean-Michel Albérola, Guiseppe Penone, William Kentridge, Sol Lewitt and even Jean-Michel Basquiat.
Building on this exceptional modern heritage, it works with numerous organisations and communities to help all members of the public engage with contemporary design, inventing new ways of teaching people about modern design.
2021 marked a turning point for Picardy’s Frac, as it took part in a cultural project revisiting all of the Frac’s undertakings for the coming years.
A place open to all members of the public
In 2021, the Picardy Frac defines itself as an artistic, nomadic and digital ‘base camp’, comprising a syllabus of multidisciplinary and collaborative workshops. Artists, critics, university students, cultural players from all areas but on a regional scale in particular, are invited to come and work, share, discuss, inspire, and develop their ideas and projects.
As a real laboratory of ideas, the Frac has chosen to tackle questions defining our era, related to the environment, human rights, education, and culture. Each year, they highlight the artistic scene of Hauts-de-France in particular.
Revisited spaces dedicated to welcoming artists, members of the public, and partners.
- The Shop: The newly-created Shop, located in the entrance of the Frac, highlights rare editions, microeditions, and artist’s editions with a particular focus on the local region.
- Documentation: with 15,000 works of art and numerous renowned journals in the plastic and visual arts domain, Documentation is a real place of work and research, but also of relaxation and discovery - and it’s open to all.
- The Studio: Located in the heart of the Frac, this multifaceted and modular space hosts workshops, conferences, resident artists, and collaborative sessions. It can be adapted as required by combining both a physical and virtual experience (via videoconferencing software, video capture, etc).
- Exhibition: This space functions as a ‘base camp’, inviting dynamics and focus groups which reflect the Frac’s projects and local artists.
- Black box: A specialised space adapted for projecting video-based works of art.
- For more info: click here
Access and contacts
- 45 Rue Pointin - 80000 Amiens
+33 (0)3 22 91 66 00
contact@frac-picardie.org
Opening hours
- Opening hours
From Monday to Friday, 9 am to 12 pm and 2 pm to 6 pm - Documentation centre
From Tuesday to Friday from 2 pm to 6 pm (subject to reservation for public health reasons)