Interview with Ernest Pignon-Ernest and Pascal Bonafoux to mark the publication of Le dessin, la mémoire ou la poésie (Drawing, memory and poetry) 

Wednesday 26 February 2025 - 2.30-4pm
Campus Hannah Arendt - city centre site
South Building - AT04 - Avignon
Free admission, followed by a discussion with the audience and a signing of the book.

As part of the cultural programme entitled "L'Université, lieu de création", Avignon Université welcomes Ernest Pignon-Ernest, associate artist 2024-2025, and art historian Pascal Bonafoux. Bonafoux, author of numerous biographies of artists and essays on art, is devoting his latest book, Le dessin, la mémoire ou la poésie (Actes Sud, 2025), to the work and artistic commitment of Ernest Pignon-Ernest. Together, they will look back at his career and his special links with Avignon and the Vaucluse. 

Ernest Pignon-Ernest is one of the pioneers of urban art. From Naples to Soweto, from Avignon to Santiago and as far afield as Palestine, he has made the street the setting for his ephemeral art, which exalts memory, events, revolts and myths. Since the 1960s, Ernest Pignon-Ernest has created works all over the world, successfully reconciling a demanding ethic with a singular and innovative artistic expression. Some of his images have become veritable icons of modern times, making him one of the most important artists of our time, celebrated the world over. 

Pascal Bonafoux is an art historian and professor emeritus at the University of Paris-VIII. He has been General Secretary of the Cité internationale de l'art and curator of exhibitions of contemporary artists around the world. He has contributed to various newspapers and magazines (Le Monde, Le Nouvel Observateur, Le Magazine littéraire, Connaissance des arts) and is the author of artist biographies and essays on art, the latest of which is devoted to Ernest Pignon-Ernest (Le dessin, la mémoire, la poésie, Actes Sud, 2025).