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Based in Marseille, Close Encounters is an independent communications and press relations agency working with public and private institutions, art centres, professional networks, foundations and biennials on their media relations.

The agency takes its name from Steven Spielberg’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind. On the homepage, the film’s iconic mountain gives way to Mont Sainte-Victoire—a nod to Provence, Cézanne, and a local perspective engaged with an ever-evolving international art scene.

Close Encounters

what's on!

Art-o-rama 2026

International fair of contemporary art

Marseille, France

  • Art fair

28 - 30 August 2026

Simulacra

Pauline Bastard, Laura Bottereau & Marine Fiquet, Julien Charrière, Sarah Anaïs Desbenoit, Marine Ducroux-Gazio, Lou Fauroux, Mayara Ferrão, Ryan Gander, Dhewadi Hadjab, Holly Herndon & Mat Dryhurst, Ann Veronica Janssens, Tony Matelli, Maria Mavropoulou, Iván Navarro, Bill Posters, Jon Rafman, Arinze Stanley, Julius von Bismarck

The Magasins Généraux, Pantin

  • Exhibition

June 25 - September 27, 2026

Manifesta 16 Ruhr

European Nomadic Biennial

Ruhr area, Germany

  • Biennial

21 June - 4 October 2026

At the Crack of Dawn

Adrien Fregosi

Magasin CNAC, Grenoble

  • Exhibition

May 14 - January 3, 2027

RedSkyFalls

Alexandre Estrela: RedSkyFalls

Portugal Pavilion at the 61st International Art Exhibition - La Biennale di Venezia

  • Biennial

May 9 - November 22, 2026

Prolongations

with M’barka Amor, Ouassila Arras et Dalila Dalléas Bouzar

ICI Stéphenson, Paris

  • Exhibition

March 21 - July 26, 2026

Chambres, ghosts & digitales

Assya Agbere, Absalon, Heidi Bucher, Marinette Cueco, Lou Fauroux, Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster, Donna Gottschalk, Konstantinos Kyriakopoulos, Laura Lamiel, Seulgi Lee, Lori, Ash Love, Nathalie Magnan, Beatriz Santiago Muñoz, Nam June Paik, Rosemarie Trockel, Madame Zo.

Frac Nouvelle-Aquitaine MÉCA, Bordeaux

  • Exhibition

February 6—August 30, 2026

Inspiration Bénin

Inspiration Bénin – Au cœur des mondes africains

Institut français du Bénin

  • Residency Programme

November 2025 - May 2026

An Assembly of Gestures

by Christian Rizzo & Anne-Laure Lestage

Les Magasins Généraux, Pantin

  • Exhibition

April 3- May 24, 2026

De tes jours aux nôtres

Maymouna Baradji

ICI Stephenson, Paris

  • Exhibition

January 29 - May 3, 2026

Des femmes dans une maison

In collaboration with La Maison des femmes
With photographs by Sophie Deiss and texts by Hélène Altmann. With the support of ENGIE, Kering, and BETC

Les Magasins Généraux, Pantin

  • Exhibition

March 5 — 10, 2026

Amitiés, Amours, Affinités

2026 Season of the Maison Populaire curated by Line Gigs & Fanny Testas

La Maison populaire, Montreuil, France

  • Exhibition

January 20—December 31, 2026

press clippings

references