Issue 40 of the magazine of the Palais de Tokyo features a constellation of artists and critical thinkers whose practices are shaped by the lived experiences of disability and issues of accessibility.
Issue 40 of the magazine of the Palais de Tokyo features a constellation of artists and critical thinkers whose practices are shaped by the lived experiences of disability and issues of accessibility. From the 1970s to the present day, these perspectives have interrogated the foundations of North American and Western European societies, crystallised around ideals of speed, autonomy, performance, and hyperproductivity. Each contribution exposes the mechanisms of ableism that establish a hierarchy between bodies. Together, they remind us that the supposed able-bodiedness on which this system rests is anything but permanent.
From poetry to archival materials, essays to visual artworks, they reclaim a place for bodies and beings that have been historically erased, heavily stigmatised, and that the present continues to push out of futures to come. Problematising the status quo of sociality, disability cultures emerge as a critical force. They open up new perspectives and aesthetics, adapting cultural practices and methods to fit our realities, rather than the other way around. In doing so, they shift norms, push the limits of representation, and imagine futures attuned to the impermanence of bodies, states, and environments.
This issue is published on the occasion of a new season of exhibitions at the Palais de Tokyo (03.04 – 13.09 2026), in particular Joseph Grigely's solo show This Is Where We Are, Benoît Piéron's solo show Shadow Polish, as well as the group show Cheryl Marie Wade, the Queen-Mother of Gnarly,curated by Lucie Camous and Étienne Chosson, based on an unfinished documentary by Diane Maroger (with: Panteha Abareshi, John Lee Clark, Tarik Dobbs, Noa Micaela Fields, Joseph Grigely, Carolyn Lazard, Diane Maroger, Park McArthur, Saleem Hue Penny).
Published twice a year, Palais magazine (P L S since 2023) offers an in-depth perspective on the exhibitions and program of the Palais de Tokyo. Palais allows people to see contemporary art in a topical way, as often as possible from the point of view of the artists themselves. Each issue of the magazine includes dossiers, interviews, essays, special projects and inserts, all contributed by artists, art critics, historians or theorists, making Palais magazine an essential tool for apprehending contemporary art.
