Museum boat ArtExplorer officially set sail this June.
Photo: Benoit Linero
This Museum Boat Is Exhibiting Art Across the Mediterranean
Art and sailing come together on the ArtExplorer, a first-of-its kind concept that will travel to twenty different ports over a two year journey
Officially out at sea as of June, the trailblazing new sea-faring museum, ArtExplorer, brings a multidimensional cultural adventure to countries bordering the Mediterranean. In a collaboration with the Musée du Louvre, French entrepreneur, arts patron, and adventurer Frédéric Jousset tapped architects Axel de Beaufort and Guillaume Verdier to design the stunning 47-meter catamaran, which will host immersive installations and artist residencies. Pavilions erected at port cities will then carry the affair onto dry land with exhibitions of film, virtual reality, and art, including the exclusive show “Under the Azure Sky,” which spotlights talents inspired by the Mediterranean, from Etel Adnan to Joan Miró.
Artist Akram Zaatari's Mass Struggle on view on ArtExplorer in Venice. Photo: Martina Barbon
Jousset, who also founded Art Explora Foundation in 2019, conceived the concept for the museum-boat as an ode to his shared love of art and sailing. Itching to make this seemingly impossible idea a reality, he worked with Fraser Yachts to conceive the multi-purpose catamaran, which will stop at twenty different ports throughout its two-year journey. The inaugural exhibition spotlights female figures of the Mediterranean, where works ranging from sculptures to paintings will be reimagined. “We thought, let’s promote the figure of women in the history of art because they are not present enough in the collections of the different museums,” Jousset tells Galerie about the genesis of the exhibition.
Despite the art being the obvious star of the show, Jousset refused to let the boat’s design become an afterthought, which is shown through its bespoke, custom-made furnishings and design by Axel de Beaufort, who also leads Hermès Horizons.
The ArtExplorer during the 2024 Venice Biennale. Photo: Courtesy Art Explora
“The museum boat is at the core of what we do at Art Explora,” Jousset says. “The purpose is really to enlarge the traditional audiences of the art world. This all is based on the concept of mobility — if people don’t show up to museums then museums should go to them.”
A version of this article first appeared in print in our 2024 Summer Issue under the headline “The Artful Life.” Subscribe to the magazine.
Cover: Museum boat ArtExplorer officially set sail this June.
Photo: Benoit Linero
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