French · Immersive digital art (partner)
Centre National d'Études Spatiales (CNES)
b. Founded 19 December 1961
CNES (Centre National d'Études Spatiales) is France's national space agency, founded in 1961. In our catalogue it appears as the scientific partner of Destination Cosmos, an immersive digital exhibition about space.
1 work in the collection
Works by Centre National d'Études Spatiales (CNES)
The Centre National d'Études Spatiales (CNES) is the French government's space agency, founded in December 1961 and headquartered in Paris. It is not an artist in the usual sense; it appears in our catalogue as a partner in Destination Cosmos, an immersive digital exhibition about the universe.
What CNES does
CNES designs and runs France's space programs and represents the country in the European Space Agency (ESA), which it helped found. Its main technical centers are in Toulouse and at the Guiana Space Centre in Kourou, French Guiana, the launch site for Europe's Ariane rockets. The agency works on Earth observation, telecommunications, meteorology and planetary science, and partners with NASA and other agencies on missions to Mars and beyond. It also runs public outreach and education, which is where its work meets the art world.
Destination Cosmos
Destination Cosmos is an immersive show produced by Culturespaces, the French company behind the Lumières digital art centers, in partnership with CNES. Rather than paintings on walls, it projects moving imagery across the floors, walls and columns of a large hall, set to music, in a sequence of chapters that runs from early astronomy through rocket launches and the Apollo 11 landing to images of planets, nebulae and the Sun. Visitors walk through the projections rather than viewing them from a fixed seat.
The show has been staged at several Lumières venues, including Paris and New York, and in a version shown in Dubai to mark CNES's 60th anniversary. Our catalogue records a run in July 2022. The scientific imagery comes in large part from space agency sources, which is the main reason CNES is credited.
Art and space imagery
Images from space have shaped modern visual culture since the first photographs of Earth from orbit. Immersive exhibitions like this one belong to a recent format that also includes projection shows of painters such as Gustav Klimt and Vincent van Gogh, which turn still images into walk-through environments.
Where to see it
Destination Cosmos is a touring production, so dates and venues change; check the Culturespaces and Lumières venue listings for current runs.
Questions & answers
What is CNES?
CNES, the Centre National d'Études Spatiales, is France's national space agency, founded in 1961 and headquartered in Paris. It runs French space programs, works within the European Space Agency and operates the Guiana Space Centre launch site with its partners.
What is Destination Cosmos?
Destination Cosmos is an immersive digital exhibition produced by Culturespaces in partnership with CNES. It projects images of astronomy, rockets, the Moon landing, planets and stars across a large hall, set to music, so visitors walk through the show.
Where has Destination Cosmos been shown?
It has been staged at Culturespaces' Lumières venues, including in Paris and at the Hall des Lumières in New York, and in a version in Dubai marking CNES's 60th anniversary. It tours, so check current venue listings for dates.