From 21 January to 9 March 2026, the National Maritime Museum in Paris will host a unique exhibition entitled “Artists Set Sail: An Onboard Residency”. Marfret is delighted to share with its clients and the general public the rich output of nine artists who embarked on the Marius, a container ship operating on the NASP line connecting Le Havre to the Americas and the Pacific. Illustrations, videos, novels, podcasts… a sensitive and immersive experience offering a fresh perspective on the maritime world.
This exceptional exhibition is the result of a collaboration initiated in 2023 between Marfret and the Villa Albertine, an organ of French cultural diplomacy in the United States. Inspired by the artist residencies the Villa Albertine offers in major American cities, this maritime project is anchored in a regular shipping route connecting France and the United States. Marfret’s North Atlantic South Pacific (NASP) service, renamed for the occasion Atlantic-Pacific Artists Line, invites visitors to look at the discreet and often overlooked world of shipping from a new perspective.
For Marfret, which has hosted resident artists since 2007, this partnership has further broadened horizons by welcoming creators from an ever more diverse range of disciplines: painters, podcasters, novelists, designers, photographers… In total, nine artists stepped aboard the Marius, for periods ranging from a few days to several weeks, following an initial immersion in the company to understand the inner workings of the teams onshore and gain a deeper understanding of shipping as a whole. They bring poetic, humorous, and sometimes sharp perspectives on the evolution of maritime transport and the relationship between humans, ships, machinery, and ports. This initiative has resulted in a unique body of artistic work.
Part of this work will be displayed in the exhibition “Artists Set Sail: An Onboard Residency”, which will travel from Le Havre to Papeete and Nouméa, passing through the United States, Jamaica, and the Panama Canal. This rich artistic output also reaffirms cultural ties and Franco-American friendship on the occasion of the 250th anniversary of the United States’ Independence.
Between calm seas and storms, industrial ports and exotic stops, the artists shared the crew’s daily life, cut off from the world during long crossings of the Atlantic or Pacific. From this extraordinary experience, each artist drew on unique material, expressed through their own artistic language.
Among the nine featured artists, Julia Bourdet completed a double crossing of the Atlantic aboard the Marius. From this journey, close to those who live to the rhythm of the sea, she produced a series of drawings and portraits, a selection of which illustrates the months of Marfret’s 2026 calendar.
Photographer Grégoire Korganow will present a selection of images from his series “Facing the Sea”, previously shown in several cultural venues. This work is also compiled in a book prefaced by Raymond Vidil, chronicling fifty days of navigation between Le Havre and Brisbane.
For Marfret, this exhibition demonstrates that a ship, beyond its role as a vector of global trade, is also a remarkable space for inspiration, creation, and dialogue between the maritime and terrestrial worlds.