A new travelling cultural festival will sail around the Mediterranean on Art Explora — a large catamaran that will host up to 2,000 visitors on board a day, free of charge.

The Art Explora Foundation, founded by entrepreneur and patron Frédéric Jousset in 2019, has confirmed the first Art Explora festival will take place on board the boat, in partnership with French cultural institutions the Louvre Museum, IRCAM x Centre Pompidou, as well as quayside in exhibition pavilions designed by Jean-Michel Wilmotte and in a range of venues in the host cities.

Following a ‘preinaugural’ visit to Malta from 21-31 March 2024 and a stopover in Venice during the city’s Biennale, the ‘inaugural’ port of call will be in Marseille from 6-18 June 2024.

The Art Explora is billed as the world’s first museum boat, which is sailing across the world’s oceans with a self-stated mission to bring visitors innovative artistic and cultural experiences to a wide audience, free of charge.

From the first half of 2024 to the second half of 2026, the museum boat and its Art Explora Festival will call at 20 ports in 15 countries around the Mediterranean. The foundation says this festival will provide artists, exhibition curators, institutions, non-profits and NGOs the opportunity to reach out to all audiences around a festival whose content is rooted in the heritage and issues of each country visited.

The boat itself has been designed by Axel de Beaufort and Guillaume Verdier. At 47 metres in length and 18 metres wide, the yacht has a 55-metre mast and a sail designed by artist Laure Prouvost.

“Mobility and artistic creation are powerful tools for shifting viewpoints as well as sharing images and stories that shape different relationships with the world,” says Frédéric Jousset, Art Explora Foundation president. “Climbing aboard a boat is an experience in and of itself, and it will be all the more special when visitors discover unique cultural and artistic offerings on board and quayside.”

The festival will take place on the museum boat as well as quayside in exhibition pavilions and landside areas designed by Jean-Michel Wilmotte, and in a range of venues in the heart of the host cities. The event programme combines exhibitions, virtual reality experiences, performances, lectures, film screenings and concerts.

On board the museum boat, visitors can explore “Present” — an immersive exhibition with the Louvre’s outstanding collaboration, highlighting female figures in Mediterranean civilisations. It is an experience divided into two parts with a film to be viewed on the aft deck and an immersive experience in the main gallery.

A Mediterranean soundscape designed by Centre Pompidou’s x IRCAM can be explored on the upper deck.

As part of the festival programme, “Ocean weekends” will be organised in each of the festival port-of-call cities, including round tables inviting researchers, scientists and artists to exchange on the topic of the ocean and the climate emergency. The programme is designed within the framework of the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science (2021-2030) that will be given pride of place in Nice in June 2025 during the United Nations Ocean Conference, organised by the French government.

In each port of call, the Festival will also feature a public-speaking programme christened “Voices”, which will give the floor to inspiring speakers, committed to major issues facing the Mediterranean. The programmer, Alain Weber, will also be organising a series of concerts featuring contemporary and traditional Mediterranean music throughout the festival’s journey.

Art Explora 2024 ports of call:

21-31 March – Valletta, Malta
17-23 April – Venice, Italy
6-18 June – Marseille, France
September – Tangier, Morocco
October – Rabat, Morocco
November – Malaga, Spain

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