On October 19,2023, at 11 a.M., at Paris Internationale, Sylvie Boulanger the former Director of Cneai, engage in a dialogue with Martha Wilson, an artist renowned for her pioneering work in performance art and her commitment to exposing discrimination, whether related to gender or age. They will be joined by Muriel Enjalran, the Director of Frac Sud, to mark the occasion of the launch of the Vache qui rit collector’s box designed by the artist for the Lab’Bel Foundation. This vear’s curator is Sylvie Boulanger.
The condemnation of different forms of oppression based on gender or age serves as a convenient means to obscure years of toxic managerial practices and psychological harassment. It amounts to little more than the instrumentalization of various forms of resistance and the distortion of feminist and anti-ageism discourse.
In June of the previous year, through an anonymous letter, 44 former employees, interns, civil service volunteers, and volunteers of Cneai, came forward to expose “the distress induced by Sylvie Boulanger’s authoritarian managerial approach” along with “her deleterious actions in a professional setting, sometimes resulting in severe repercussions for [their] well-being.” Furthermore, they raised concerns that Sylvie Boulanger’s managerial practices had been shielded and protected by the board of directors at the art center.
Will the condemnation of gender stereotypes be enough to overshadow a period spanning 25 years characterized by “exceptionally challenging working conditions: contradictory directives, impossible tasks within stringent deadlines, situations intentionally designed for failure, rebukes and scolding leading to emotional distress, baseless demands to produce false accusations, being directed to shoulder overwhelming responsibilities without the requisite safeguards, undertaking tasks falling outside the purview of one’s job description, surpassing the legal limits for working hours, unpaid overtime, [financial mismanagement resulting in] demands to falsify accounting documents, manipulation, and psychological disorientation“?
Is the condemnation of ageism within the art world enough to obscure years of maltreatment inflicted upon employees, interns, civil service volunteers, and volunteers, with many of them “endangering their physical and mental well-being“? Can it effectively overshadow the propagation of “defamation and slander” aimed at tarnishing the reputations of employees who have suffered severe psychological distress? Can it make people disregard the fact that “many individuals experienced severe health issues stemming from these adverse workine working conditions: depression, anxiety, diminished self- esteem, feelings of inadequacy, contemplation of self-harm, sometimes necessitating prolonged medical and/or psychological intervention“?
Numerous artists, curators, and individuals have been
affected by the actions of Sylvie Boulanger.
This is an appeal for witnesses and their testimonies:
Collectif Alerte Harcelement
collectifalerteharcelement@proton.me