13th Chaumont Poster Festival: A Critical Retrospective

The 13th Festival d'affiches de Chaumont, held June 1-30, 2002, aimed to save the event after founder Alain Weill's departure. The artistic committee—Pierre Bernard, Alex Jordan, and Vincent Perrotet (former Grapus members)—chose a retrospective of posters selected from the annual competition since 1990, honoring authors worldwide. The exhibition, spread across Chaumont venues, was arranged alphabetically by artist, with no thematic curation. It also showcased 40 historic posters from the city's collection, including works by Chéret and Toulouse-Lautrec, alongside contemporary pieces. The visual identity by Sylvain Enguehard drew criticism for its postmodern mishmash of symbols. Michel Wlassikoff's catalogue introduction noted that posters 'will never again be what they were,' urging support for less spectacular graphic design forms like visual identity systems and web communication. A student competition jury favored figurative illustration over typographic or abstract works. Philosopher Marie-José Mondzain, in a symposium, warned against universal visual language, citing historical totalitarian uses of imagery. The festival's collection now includes 15,000 contemporary posters, complementing 5,000 historic ones donated by Gustave Dutailly in 1905.