In its exhibition space in the Gambetta district of Montpellier, the FRAC Occitanie Montpellier presents a yearly programme of solo and group shows, bringing together artists of all ages and nationalities — most of them already represented in its collection.
The FRACs (Fonds régionaux d'art contemporain) were born in 1982. Noting how few spaces existed in France for showing contemporary art, the Ministry of Culture and the newly created Regional Councils imagined them together: on one hand to build collections reflecting the major currents of contemporary art, and on the other to make those collections accessible to audiences across each region. The result was an entirely new kind of institution — neither a traditional museum nor an art centre with purely ephemeral exhibitions, but a sort of "toolbox" that citizens can pick up to make sense of the world through the work of the artists of their time. By 2021, the 23 FRACs together formed the third-largest body of public contemporary art in France, after the Cnap and the Musée national d'art moderne in Paris.
The whole project rests on the idea that culture is a common good, and it plays out across three missions: to collect the art of our time and, in doing so, support living creation; to share that art by exhibiting it; and to open it up to the public through a new relationship built on circulating works throughout the region. The FRAC Occitanie Montpellier — known as Languedoc-Roussillon until 2016 — is one of these public collections born of the cultural decentralisation of the 1980s. Across its history, under a succession of directors, it has paid close attention to the regional scene while also acting as a boldly international, forward-looking art centre, combining major acquisitions with a keen eye for both established and emerging artists to offer an exemplary picture of contemporary art.
In Montpellier, that translates into temporary exhibitions of newly produced work or pieces drawn from the collection, while across Occitanie the collection travels through partnerships with associations, art centres, museums, local authorities, and schools — around forty exhibitions a year, supported by a dedicated public-engagement team, alongside loans and deposits that reach well beyond the region to national and international institutions. Education and outreach run right through everything, with guided and participative tours, digital mediation, artist encounters, school residencies, teacher training, and a steady stream of exhibition catalogues and artist's books. The team is also attentive to the wider responsibilities of the contemporary world — accessibility, cultural rights, gender equality, welcoming children and young people, and an eco-responsible drive to reduce its carbon footprint.
Free to visit and easy to reach (tram line 3, Plan Cabanes stop), the FRAC Occitanie Montpellier is a lively, welcoming gateway into the art of our time — a place to discover contemporary creation right in the heart of the city.