Ruinart Explores Scale and Living Landscapes with Tadashi Kawamata

Ruinart anchored its presence at Art Basel Paris under the glass roof of the Grand Palais, presenting a monumental installation by Japanese artist Tadashi Kawamata. The newly commissioned work arrived during an intense week of contemporary art presentations across the capital, marking another phase in the house’s sustained cultural initiatives.

Kawamata built the work using reclaimed wood and gathered furniture, materials that have long defined his artistic practice. The construction intentionally disrupts established points of reference through deliberate shifts in physical scale. By assembling everyday wooden objects into an expansive architectural structure, Kawamata highlights the temporary nature of human builds when positioned against environmental change.

Ruinart and the Conversations with Nature Program

The Grand Palais project forms the central piece of the ongoing Conversations with Nature series. Through this annual commissioning platform, the house invites an artist to examine the relationship connecting humanity and natural ecosystems. Kawamata uses raw structural timber to examine environmental transformation directly inside the historic exhibition hall.

Hospitality formed an additional component of the presentation during the Paris fair. Across town at Cheval Blanc Paris, the house organised focused gastronomic gatherings. These dedicated dining sessions paired selected cuvées alongside custom culinary preparations developed specifically for the contemporary art gathering.

The Champagne Landscape at the Cellier in Reims

The curatorial focus now moves from Paris into the Champagne region through a dedicated museum exhibition titled Ars in Campania. Mounted at the Cellier in Reims, the presentation runs from October 24, 2026, through February 28, 2027. The project is presented in close collaboration with the City of Reims.

Independent curator Alice Audouin organised the exhibition, selecting 22 artists represented in the Ruinart collection. The roster features work by Eva Jospin, Julian Charrière, Tomás Saraceno, and Pascale Marthine Tayou. Each creator addresses the specific regional terrain through distinct material processes and conceptual strategies.

The works in Reims document Champagne as an active terrain shaped by natural history and atmospheric pressures. The pieces trace tangible connections between the chalk subsoils left by a prehistoric sea and the immediate realities of contemporary climate shifts. The artists interpret the geography through sculpture, organic textures, and environmental observation.

The dual presentations in Paris and Reims formed part of a coordinated series of cultural events staged by LVMH Maisons during the autumn art calendar. By linking Kawamata’s ephemeral construction under the Grand Palais glass with the geological and climatic investigations inside the Cellier, the program tracks environmental transformation across two related stages.

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