Paris Face Cachée 2023: we visited the "sunken cathedral" in the underground of La Défense

This place is nicknamed the " sunken cathedral ". Hidden in the bowels of Paris La Défense, this place is unknown to the general public. Only a few urban explorers and otherurbex enthusiasts have ever set foot there. But, on the occasion of the Paris Face Cachée event, this deserted " cathedral ", which has become mythical for the " emptiness " of its basements never developed since its construction in 1960, exceptionally opens its doors for three consecutive days!

From February 3 to 5, 2023, the luckiest people who have registered on the Paris Face Cachée website can access the underside of Paris La Défense and discover this fascinating " sunken cathedral " to the rhythm of an immersive journey of works and artistic installations imagined by Interstices. This incredible collective brings together artists from the alternative culture who describe themselves as urban explorers, in search of spaces created by human activity, then abandoned.

But to access this " sunken cathedral ", open to the public for the first time, we first have to find the access. We then go down a few steps before reaching the basement and arriving in front of a grilled door, on which we see a sign " no entry ". But our guide holds the precious sesame which allows us to cross this first obstacle. We then find ourselves in front of Raymond Moretti's studio. Many may not know it, but the famous French painter and sculptor of the 20th century chose to install his phenomenal work"Le Monstre" in the underground passages of La Défense from 1973. Invisible to the general public, this protean and evolving work, so well known to the artist - who died in 2005 - has since resided in the bowels of the business district.

Just across the street fromRaymond Moretti's studio, the famous " sunken cathedral " and the art trail designed by Interstices for Paris Face Cachée await us. So we go through a new screen door and cross a long corridor, whose walls are covered with graffiti and photo collages. We are finally in front of the main entrance of this forbidden spot where an incredible experience both visual and sound is waiting for us.

Once inside, we can only be impressed by the immensity of this residual emptiness, while millions of pedestrians swarm just above our heads. Under our feet, we can hear the trains of the RER A circulating intermittently. In a few glances, we discover all around us works realized by the artists of the Collectif Interstices. The strong point? The diversity of interstitial artistic practices proposed: photography, graffiti and street art, light painting, light installations, anamorphosis, but also mapping and video projections... the immersive tour is very rich and dense. The one-hour visit will be done in a hurry, offering us however a fascinating exploration of the light to the shadow, or of the shadow to the light.

For this is the theme imagined by Interstices for this new kind of exhibition. We begin the visit by discovering the crossed glances of 9 photographers explorers through an artistic photo path. Each large-format photo pasted on the walls of this immense basement features hidden places that they have visited and immortalized: underground spots, inaccessible roofs, wastelands, abandoned places on the surface, ruined abbeys, catacombs... several of these photos are striking, including those ofOlivier Dexheimer, Diane Dufraisy, Hérèm, Julsboo, Stéphane B or Maxime Rouge and Caroline Crête.

We continue the visit with frescoes made by street artists doing graffiti. We love the imposing figurative character signed Caligr Oner.

A little further on, we see the dizzying wire installation, both luminous and anamorphic, by Rémi Petit. Through this work using optical art, the artist invites the visitor to penetrate a disturbing parallel reality composed.

The Interstices collective also honors light painting, this famous photographic technique based on the capture of light over time. Through a small demo, we discover how these incredible images are made.

We are also impressed by thegenerative and interactiveinstallation by Allison Simonot. Projected on a corner of the cathedral wall, this space-time rift - activated by a disturbance in space-time, truly hypnotizes us and transports us into the stellar interstice!

• To be read
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The collective also hosts a projection of digital collages by François K as well as an amazing light and sound installation imagined by the FASM collective. Using a homemade soundtrack made in situ (footsteps in the water, camera shutter release...), this work unfolds in the heart of the central space.

A fascinating and rich artistic universe that we unfortunately have to leave and abandon after an hour of visit. With this immersive journey proposed in a new and forbidden place, the Interstices collective - which did not hesitate to clean the cathedral in length, width and breadth - succeeds in the crazy challenge of inviting us in the underground of Paris La Défense and to offer us a memorable experience. In the end, we come out of these bowels with the feeling of having lived an incredible moment out of time, all in a parallel world, far from the usual agitation of the La Défense district.

Unfortunately, this experience (not recommended for people prone to claustrophobia) of Paris Face Cachée is sold out. But the event offers many other visits of new and forbidden places from February 3rd to 5th, 2023. Discover and book on the official website.