2011: Events to look forward to

As I (and Paris as well it seems...) am still slowly getting back into the swing of things after the holidays, I will not make any suggestions for this weekend, but instead you can find below a list of events and exhbitions to look forward to in 2011.

2010 was a year for big name exhibitions in Paris, and although 2011 should be a little less brash, there are still plenty of interesting offerings. Find a list below, organised by date of opening.

Fear and Loathing
An intruiging and slightly unnerving start to the year at the Monnaie de Paris with a photographic exhibition entitled ‘Peurs sur la ville’ (Fear in the city). Organised around three different viewpoints, it sets out to challenge our conceptions of urban violence in Paris.

"Peurs sur la ville", Violences urbaines à Paris,
Monnaie de Paris - January 21st to April 17th

An unexpected reopening
Although Cranach, a German renaissance painter, may not be very well known, it is the fact that the Musée de Luxembourg is reopening which is the big story. When it closed at the end of 2009 for ‘refurbishment’, many people believed that it would be definitive.

"Cranach et son temps"
Musée de Luxembourg - February 9th to May 23rd

Food for thought
Even more curious than the event at the Monnaie de Paris, the Maison Rouge will be presenting a series of creations based around the theme of cannibalism. The title of the event – and its inspiration - comes from a Claude Lévi-Strauss quotation - "Nous sommes tous des cannibales. Après tout, le moyen le plus simple d’identifier autrui à soi-même, c’est encore de le manger"

"Tous cannibales"
La Maison Rouge - February 12th to May 15th

Brothers in arts
The wonderfully pensive paintings of Gustave Caillebotte, and the photos of his lesser known brother Martial, as well as documents on their life together.

"Dans l’intimité des frères Caillebotte, peintre et photographe"
Musée Jacquemart-André - March 25th to July 11th

A thoroughly modern Manet
Perhaps the biggest exhibition of the year will be at the Musée d’Orsay, with the first Manet retrospective in Paris since 1983. His role as a precursor of future movements is celebrated in this show in which he is declared the ‘inventor of modernity’.

"Manet, l'inventeur du moderne"
Musée d’Orsay - April 5th to July 3rd

Who do voodoo?
Opening the same day as the Manet exhibition - at the always interesting Fondation Cartier - is an exhibition centred on a series of voodoo objects from an important private collection.

"Vaudou"
Fondation Cartier, April 5th to September 25th

The year of Mexico
The biggest event of the 'Année de la Mexique' in France will surely be the Frida Kahlo/Diego Rivera show at the Orangerie. Many other events are planned though (see list here) including an installation of giant statues by the artist Jose Rivelino alongside the Seine.

"Frida Kahlo et Diego Rivera"
Musée de l'Orangerie - September 27th to January 16th 2012