Since 2010, Marion Hislen has been the director of cultural initiatives for the French entertainment retail chain FNAC. “In France, FNAC is one of the few companies to have a cultural policy regarding photography. Its network includes 20 galleries throughout French territory, and in Monaco. That’s unique! We’ve also kept our contacts with FNAC galleries in Italy. Those are the legacy of Laura Serani (who was the head of photography for FNAC from 1985 to 2006).” Conscious of the fact that she is defending a wonderful program—“yesterday it was a dream, but today it’s become a luxury”—Marion Hislen has found a balance between worlds of business and photography. “It’s an ideal position for me.”
“FNAC Studio is one of my ideas. I wanted to create an event that spoke to professionals, amateurs and the general public alike. It was about building bridges that would take form inside of FNAC stores. Photography is part of our daily lives; our telephones publish pictures to social networks. Meanwhile, studio photography has begun to disappear, which is a shame because in our tradition, family albums are full of beautiful “prepared” photos. The idea is to have an artist make a beautiful “family” moment come to life. It’s also about creating an archive for the album, a nice memory of an instant. It exceeded our expectations. Beyond the meeting with the artist, FNAC touched people’s hearts. The families were very moved to be able to keep a suspended moment in their family history.”
In 2013, Marion hopes to honor the collection’s 35th anniversary. The confrontation of a large diversity of works would be a lovely way to discover a remarkable contemporary archive.
Wilfrid Estève
Read the full text of this article in the French version of Le Journal.
