Inside ‘The Absurd and the Dreamlike’: how Arne Quinze and Joana Vasconcelos transformed a 16th-century fortress into a realm of wonder

This summer, the historic Citadel of Villefranche-sur-Mer becomes the backdrop for The Absurd and the Dreamlike, a major contemporary art exhibition bringing together the visionary practices of Belgian artist Arne Quinze and Portuguese artist Joana Vasconcelos. Running from June 19th to October 31st, 2026, the exhibition transforms the centuries-old fortress into a poetic world of monumental sculptures, experimental environments, and site-specific installations exploring the delicate relationship between humanity, nature, and imagination.

Curated by Selcan Atilgan, founder of ARTSA Consultancy, at the invitation of Camille Frasca, with Clare Lilley as guest curator, the exhibition extends across La Citadelle – Centre d’Art & Musée, Villefranche-sur-Mer, weaving contemporary art into the fortress’s historic architecture. Moving between galleries, gardens, and open-air spaces, the project creates a striking dialogue between artworks, history, and the Mediterranean landscape.

A surreal journey inspired by Jean Cocteau’s legacy

The exhibition draws inspiration from the poetic imagination of Jean Cocteau, the celebrated French artist and filmmaker whose creative life was deeply connected to Villefranche-sur-Mer. Here, Cocteau produced drawings, wrote plays, filmed The Testament of Orpheus, and transformed Villa Santo Sospir with his iconic murals. His fascination with mythology, dreams, and the blurred boundaries between reality and fantasy continues to influence the exhibition’s atmosphere.

Echoing Cocteau’s spirit, Arne Quinze and Joana Vasconcelos create a world where ordinary objects become extraordinary, familiar forms appear transformed, and logic gives way to imagination. The exhibition reflects Quinze’s long-standing exploration of humanity’s distance from nature, proposing creativity as a path towards renewed awareness of the natural world.

Throughout the Citadel, monumental sculptures and intimate installations reshape the historic setting. Ancient walls, gardens, and outdoor spaces become stages for unexpected encounters, inviting visitors to experience art through movement, curiosity, and discovery.

Arne Quinze’s monumental sculptures: between nature, freedom and transformation

Known for his large-scale installations exploring the relationship between urban life and the natural environment, Arne Quinze creates sculptures that challenge conventional ideas of form and space. His practice combines organic structures, vivid colours, and experimental materials to examine the fragile connection between contemporary society and the world around it.

For Anthropic Ecotropic, Quinze creates a monumental interactive sculpture in collaboration with Atelier Vierkant. Emerging from a clay and ceramic base anchored to the earth, aluminium elements rise upward like organic wings, evoking a living creature breaking free from human constraints.

A polished bronze eye crowns the sculpture, introducing a symbol of observation and power. Yet Quinze shifts this traditional image into an invitation for interaction and reflection, encouraging visitors to question their relationship with the natural world. Designed to be touched, explored, and inhabited, the work becomes a space of connection, curiosity, and play.

Across La Citadelle, Quinze’s sculptures establish a dialogue between historic architecture and the rhythms of nature. His works explore contrasts between strength and fragility, permanence and change, creating structures that appear dynamic and almost alive.

Joana Vasconcelos’ dreamlike world: transforming everyday objects into surreal landscapes

For The Absurd and the Dreamlike, Vasconcelos continues her exploration of transformation and contradiction through large-scale sculptures inspired by objects from daily life. Familiar domestic forms are enlarged, displaced, and reintroduced within the historic surroundings of the Citadel.

Through intricate craftsmanship, unexpected materials, and dramatic shifts in scale, Vasconcelos turns the everyday into the extraordinary. Her works question the boundaries between private and public, intimate and monumental, revealing new meanings hidden within ordinary objects.

Alongside her monumental sculptures, Vasconcelos presents textile works, paintings, video pieces, and sound installations. Her collaborations with artisans, including Berengo Studio’s expertise in Murano glass, reflect her ongoing fascination with the relationship between heritage techniques and contemporary artistic expression.

Rich in colour, movement, and theatrical detail, her works create a dreamlike environment where decoration becomes storytelling and familiar forms gain new symbolic power.

In a conversation with Rajesh Punj, artists Arne Quinze and Joana Vasconcelos explore the power of collaboration, the role of place in artistic creation, and the tension between individual authorship and collective expression. Read the interview to discover how trust, risk, and dreamlike thinking shape their creative dialogue for The Absurd and the Dreamlike.