Groupe UNTEL Revisits Tourist Performances at Galerie mfc-michèle didier

Key facts

• Exhibition 'L’Art d’être touriste' runs from November 20, 2015 to January 16, 2016 at Galerie mfc-michèle didier, 66 rue Notre-Dame de Nazareth, 75003 Paris.
• Groupe UNTEL was active from 1975 to 1980; members include Jean-Paul Albinet, Philippe Cazal, Alain Snyers (1975–1978), and Wilfrid Rouff (1978–1980).
• In 1978, UNTEL performed in Cahors and at the Louvre's Grande Galerie wearing painter's overalls with 'Touriste' in multiple colors.
• At the Louvre, they staged a fashion parade while a voice described their outfits, causing the audience to turn away from the artworks.
• In 1977 at the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris (10th Biennale de Paris), they vacuum-packed 2,500 everyday objects in a supermarket-like setting.
• In 1978 at a market in Chalon-sur-Saône, they collected street waste, plasticized it, and offered it for exchange under the title 'Plus rien à vendre, tout à échanger' (recreated in 2013 for FIAC).
• The exhibition includes original serigraphied clothing and new merchandise: 100 limited-edition shirts, a 'pochette touriste', and an unlimited mirror.
• The vernissage featured a mock fashion show with models wearing only the shirt.