"Returning to Altkirch, to this apartment in particular, is like moving among walking memories. Friends, school, teachers and encounters that took place here, I see the ghosts between the walls. And naturally, new ones start to settle in."  —A. C., November 2023.

I've been in this place before is the title of the research residency evoking Alexandre Caretti's successive visits to CRAC Alsace since 2018.* The magical-esoteric dimension of the title refers to déjà-vu, an experience sometimes considered a gift of clairvoyance that the artist experienced in his adolescence. During this residency, Alexandre Caretti explores his fragmented memories of the education he received at school, at the day-care center, at the swimming pool, on vacation, in the playground and through play. By summoning his intimate memories, the artist participates in the collective memory related to learning, authority, encounters, failure, teaching and the making of an identity.

Alexandre Caretti

"[...] By shifting the act of creation into the realm of collective thought, negotiation, compromise and exchange, Caretti articulates a critical perspective that challenges the artist's sense of isolation from his community, as well as traditional notions of authorship and singular genius. In his speculative worlds populated by multiple characters, and his narratives in which the boundaries between reality and fiction become blurred, the tensions between permanence and transformation are revealed, calling into question the immutability of forms, beings, systems and ideas" **.

Alexandre Caretti recently exhibited at KOMMET (Lyon, FR), Crac 19 (Montbéliard, FR) and Casino Display (Luxembourg, LUX). In 2025, he will participate a a group exhibition at CRAC Alsace, and benefit from a research residency at Basis e.V. (Frankfurt, DE), in partnership with CEAAC - Centre Européen d'Actions Artistiques Contemporaines (Strasbourg, FR).

* Alexandre Caretti participated in the program Les martinets dorment en volant, proposed by art students from the No Name group of Haute école des arts du Rhin (HEAR) at CRAC Alsace, from January 22 to 28, 2018.
** Excerpt from The rules can be reinvented at any time: Alexandre Caretti, by Liberty Adrien, 2024.

This research residency is supported by the “Émergences Arts Visuels” program of the Région Grand Est, which aims to support emerging artists in their professional networks.