Café Magnétique: La Prose du Transsibérien

Parisian cafés at the time of the “École de Paris” were not only a fixed meeting place for the painters and sculptors of the European avant-garde, it was also where different art forms, painting and literature met. One outstanding example of these encounters is “La Prose du Transsibérien et la Petite Jehanne de France” from 1913. The collaborative book project shows a long poem by Swiss poet Blaise Cendrars about his journey through Russia on the Trans-Siberian Railway; the text is surrounded by expressionist-style illustrations by artist Sonia Delaunay-Terk.

The second part of the event series “Café Magnétique” is dedicated to Cendrars and Delaunay-Terk's artist’s book and to the diverse moments of exchange and collaboration within the “École de Paris”. In a lecture performance, curator Shelley Harten joins a graphic designer and an actor to explore the intersection of migration, the avant-garde, and artistic networks in early twentieth-century Paris.

Parisian cafés functioned as places to meet people and gather together on a daily basis, and often also as a first port of call for new arrivals. They served as parlors and studies for many artists, and were essential for the self-organization of migrants in a new, foreign environment: The cafés were used to establish contacts, find rooms and studios, and to prepare exhibitions. Famous Parisian cafés such as the Café de Dôme in Montparnasse were the focal point of this migrant and particularly Jewish-influenced art scene, which soon became known as the “École de Paris”. The “Café Magnétique” series revives the Parisian cafés in JMB’s Glass Courtyard, inviting you to exchange ideas about the “École de Paris” over food and drinks.