The date has just fallen: June 1 ^{and 2, 2024, Les Frigos de Paris, located in the 13th arrondissement, invite us to their traditional Open Days. This legendary and jealously kept secret creation workshop center will welcome the public for an immersion in the artistic universe that reigns there.}

Visitors will be able to wander through the various artists' studios, discover their works and interact directly with them. From sculptors to musicians, including photographers and designers, more than 120 creators will reveal their talents and their work processes. The Aiguillage Gallery – which can be visited all year round – will also participate in the event with special exhibitions, adding an additional dimension to this cultural experience.

The atmosphere will be enriched by musical interventions and artistic performances, offering a lively and dynamic overview of the creative diversity of the Frigos, while revealing to us the other side of an artistic setting, particularly fragile and precarious.
An invitation to discover the secrets of this emblematic place of the Parisian artistic scene, whose walls full of industrial history contrast with the surrounding modernity.

A little history… Former cold storage warehouses converted into an artists’ hive.

Les Frigos de Paris, located at 19 rue des Frigos in the 13th arrondissement, is today a vibrant center of artistic creation, but their history is much older. Built in 1921, the building first served as a cold storage depot for the SNCF. At that time, it was used to store and preserve perishable goods transported by train, a crucial part of Parisian food logistics. With the evolution of refrigeration techniques and transport infrastructures, the role of refrigerators has gradually declined. In the 1970s, the building was abandoned by the SNCF, leaving this gigantic industrial space unoccupied. It was not until the early 1980s that the site found new life.

Alternative artists and collectives began to invest in the premises, attracted by the vast spaces available and the creative potential offered by the old refrigeration rooms. Les Frigos have thus become a refuge for alternative arts and Parisian counterculture, offering a unique space for artistic experimentation far from traditional circuits. Far from being a squat as we sometimes hear, Les Frigos is a true multidisciplinary creative workshop (dare we compare them to the famous Bateau-Lavoir?).  Today, Les Frigos is home to more than 120 artists and creators from diverse fields, ranging from painting to music, sculpture, photography and much more. This place is a veritable labyrinth of creativity where architects, designers, musicians, ceramists, and visual artists meet.

LES FRIGOS DE PARIS
June 1 and 2 June 2024
19, Rue des Frigos - 75013