Cultural craft
Accor becomes the “Main Partner” of the Art Explora Festival and the Mediterranean journey of the world’s first museum boat.
15 June 2024
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Accor has become the main partner of the Art Explora Festival, an innovative and open-access cultural event designed around the world’s first museum boat, which will travel to 15 countries in the Mediterranean between now and 2026.
Designed by architect Axel De Beaufort and launched as the Perini Navi Art Explorer, the 47-metre aluminium sailing catamaran is the world’s largest and was built by The Italian Sea Group. With an exceptional beam of 17.3 metres and an impressive all-carbon sail plan with a 55-metre mast, the vessel debuted at the 2023 Monaco Yacht Show.
The flybridge will be used for virtual exhibitions, workshops, and conferences, while the main gallery will house Icons, an inaugural digital exhibit on the representation of women in the Mediterranean managed by Nomi Daucé, curator of archaeology at the Louvre Abu Dhabi.
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Now known as Art Explora, the boat can accommodate 2,000 people a day on board, and features an immersive exhibition designed with the exceptional collaboration of the Musée du Louvre, a sound experience developed with Ircam, and onboard artist residencies.
Following the first two years of sailing dedicated to art, the catamaran will also be available for charter.
At the opening of the Art Explora Festival, Thursday 6 June 2024 in Marseille’s Vieux-Port, Frédéric Jousset, Founder & Chairman of Art Explora and Sébastien Bazin, CEO & Chairman of Accor, announced the signing of a three-year partnership between the Art Explora Foundation and Accor.
Sébastien Bazin, Chairman & CEO of Accor, said, “Cultural dialogue, innovation and generosity are the key values that we share with the Art Explora Foundation.
“Accor is proud to become the leading partner of the Art Explora Festival and to offer a platform to local artists by making art accessible to a wide audience free of charge.
“With the world’s first museum boat, which will travel to 15 countries, we are reaffirming our commitment to local communities and will focus, at each stopover, on involving our Heartists® who work every day from the heart and with an artist’s soul to create the hospitality of the future.”
Frédéric Jousset, Founder & Chairman of Art Explora, added, “It’s clear that art makes us all better people, that it is good for us, that it arouses our curiosity, broadens our horizons and challenges our prejudices.
“It is a vehicle for promoting integration and social cohesion. We created Art Explora in 2019 with the aim of combatting the cultural divide and making art accessible to as many people as possible, by proposing innovative projects that are open to all.
“I am delighted by our long-term partnership with Accor Group and I would like to express my enormous gratitude to Sébastien Bazin and his teams for their confidence in and commitment to us. Together we will offer an unrivalled, joyful and rewarding experience, by showcasing talents from all the countries visited.”
The partnership between Accor and the Art Explora Festival will particularly leverage ALL – Accor Live Limitless, the Group’s reservation platform and loyalty program. This partnership will be structured around several pillars:
Long-term support promoting access to culture
As a committed company, Accor is mindful of the issues promoted by the Art Explora Foundation, recognised as acting in the public interest and whose mission is to make art accessible to as many people as possible. Its flagship project, the Art Explora Festival, aims to provide, free of charge, an unrivalled cultural experience based on the world’s first museum boat, particularly to young people, exhibition spaces on quays and a program of live performances created in conjunction with artists and cultural institutions from each country visited.
Accor has made a long-term commitment to the Art Explora Foundation to support this worthwhile and educational international project, which echoes with its CSR commitments.
Mobilising Accor teams and employees in 15 countries
At every stopover, the Group’s hotels and their teams will be mobilized to take part in the Art Explora Festival to welcome the general public, school children and organizations. Cultural experiences will be delivered in the hotels where artists invited to the festival will be accommodated. Employees from the 15 countries involved in this three-year partnership will therefore help to showcase the Group’s talents and their expertise.
Unforgettable moments for members of the ALL – Accor Live Limitless loyalty program
The Group’s loyalty program and reservation platform, ALL – Accor Live Limitless, will offer its members exclusive experiences in 15 of the Art Explora Festival’s stops.
They will be able to burn their Reward points to attend Limitless Experiences, including packages with invitations to official openings (cocktail receptions, concerts), passes to attend the Festival line-up as well as accommodation in Accor brand hotels.
The first Limitless Experience took place 6 June. Details available online.
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