New patrons

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The New patrons, in French Nouveaux commanditaires, are a series of art projects since the 1990s following a protocol that was drawn up by Belgian artist François Hers. The terms "Nouveaux commanditaires" or "New patrons" refer equally to the protocol that was established in 1990,^[1] the subsequent cultural policy movement, and to the resulting artworks, as well as to the multiple mediation organisations responsible for overseeing the art projects around the world. New patrons are the individuals who initiate the commissioning of a said artistic project.^[2]

The protocol followed by the New patrons dictates the basic stages in the construction of an artistic project that is intended to be democratic and whose origin is a commission from citizens, residents, employees or any other group of people with a motivated interest in the development of a work of art.^[3]

The initiative was established in France, under the impetus of the Fondation de France, from 1990 to 2022. It was established in Belgium in 2000, and later in Germany, Spain, Italy, Switzerland and a dozen other countries. Through several hundred projects,^[4] it has involved many leading figures in contemporary art, such as Daniel Buren, Luciano Fabro, Christian Boltanski, Harun Farocki, Angela Bulloch, Michelangelo Pistoletto, Wim Delvoye, Jean-Michel Othoniel, Erwin Wurm, as well as personalities from the worlds of architecture, music and design. The Protocol has also inspired sociologists, philosophers and art historians, and has been the subject of sustained research, most notably by Bruno Latour, Vinciane Despret, Laurence Bertrand-Dorléac, Joseph L. Koerner, Jean-Michel Frodon.