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The unprecedented prospect of the Olympic and Paralympic Games taking place in the Paris Region in 2024 provided the impetus for this exhibition which is imbued with the foreboding spectre of science fiction. Physical and psychological bodies, whether real or imagined, evolve in response to the demands and the need for performance, adaptability and treatment. Technological advances enable both survival and improved competitiveness, in the professional sports sector but also, more generally, in all the realms, both public and private, that are part of this global system. Sci-fi has anticipated these subjects and continues to invent real, augmented and fictional bodies that subtly position themselves in relation to each other and to various ecosystems. These positions, forms and appearances are usually complemented by ingenious roles, uses and rituals. The physical and organisational transformations of populations are the result, for example, of military experimentation and post-apocalyptic adaptation, and always enable an alternative relationship with others, with the land and the elements that sustain it.

The title of the exhibition, Old Hulls & Young Reefs, refers to several metaphors: the body as a shell destined for decay, potentially challenged by the beautiful coral that replaces it or, on the contrary, revives it. A medical technique has been developed to strengthen bones by grafting coral. In addition, we are thinking of protective gear for athletes which wears out in the pursuit of victory, and the obstacles that get in the way. The title also evokes the fact that, contrary to popular belief, sci-fi often draws on very old stories, leaving deep imprints on our imaginations that are hard to pin down, contributing to its skilful ability to shift focus and, in this case too, to regenerate.