How can the challenges of climate change be made visible — subtly, poetically, yet emphatically? Ruinart, the oldest champagne house in the world, answers this question in its long-standing collaboration with contemporary artists. This year, the selected artist is Julian Charrière. The French-Swiss artist is known for exploring the relationship between man and nature, time and landscape. For Ruinart, Charrière embarked on a symbolic journey into the past, to the Lutetian Sea, which, 45 million years ago, was located near today’s Champagne. Inspired by the geological origins of the region, Charrière created a series of photolithographs with color spectrums fed by local limestone and crushed coral. The prints are not bright red, but a quiet, almost forgotten beige — an allusion to the global bleaching of coral reefs due to rising sea temperatures. As part of the Gallery Weekend, the works will be shown for the first time at the Ruinart Champagne & Art Bar in Berlin’s PalaisPopulaire before traveling to Art Basel and Frieze Seoul. The exhibition expresses a broader attitude. Ruinart is responding to the effects of climate change in viticulture with concrete measures. In Taissy near Reims, the house is committed to reforestation, biodiversity, and soil regeneration, to preserve Champagne for future generations. In this way, art becomes a dialog partner, champagne a symbol of change, and toasting a conscious act. Here’s to the next 45 million years.
Text: Isabel Raab / Photos: Alice Jacquemin
PalaisPopulaire, Unter den Linden 5, 10117 Berlin–Mitte; map
Ruinart Champagne & Art Bar (on the occasion of Gallery Weekend) 01.–04.05.2025, daily 13–21h. Book a Champagne Tasting here.
Ruinart recommends massvoll-geniessen.de.
@ruinart
@julian.charriere
