The gallery and theatre: live performances in the exhibition space

01An artistic tradition that has become institutional

Performance in exhibition spaces is not a recent phenomenon. Allan Kaprow's happenings in the 1960s, the actions of Valie Export and Marina Abramovic in the following decades, Tino Sehgal's interventions in museums and galleries since the 2000s have progressively established performance as a fully-fledged art form within the visual arts field. What was marginal has become central: the Venice Biennale, documenta in Kassel and major international fairs now regularly programme performances.

Galerie Chantal Crousel in Paris has integrated performance into its programming for several years, hosting artists whose practice blends visual and performing arts. Galerie Esther Schipper in Berlin represents Tino Sehgal, whose works are exclusively performative and leave no material trace. Lisson Gallery in London regularly programmes performances and live interventions that temporarily transform the exhibition space. These examples show that integrating performance into a gallery's programme is not an occasional exercise but can constitute a structuring curatorial axis.

02Forms performance can take in a gallery

Gallery performance covers a broad spectrum of practices. Performance in the strict sense — an artist executes an action before an audience, at a given moment, for a defined duration — is the most immediately identifiable form. Tino Sehgal's performances, for instance, involve interpreters who engage visitors in dialogue or choreographed situations, without any object or material trace.

Performative reading is a form developing in literary galleries or spaces that champion a relationship between text and image. An author or artist reads an original text in the exhibition space, creating a sonic and intellectual experience that enriches the perception of hanging works. Galerie Yvon Lambert, during its Parisian activity, regularly organised artist and writer readings that were integral to its programming.

Musical intervention is another possibility. Sound artists, experimental musicians or contemporary composers can invest the gallery space for a concert or improvisation that dialogues with exhibited works. Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin has hosted musical performances linked to exhibitions, creating hybrid events that attract an expanded audience.

Long-duration performance, inherited from the practices of Tehching Hsieh or Marina Abramovic, transforms the gallery itself into a work. A performer occupies the space for several days or weeks, and visitors become witnesses to a process rather than spectators of a single event. This form demands considerable logistical commitment from the gallery, but it produces media visibility and visitor impact that far exceed those of a standard exhibition.

The performative lecture is a hybrid form developing in intellectually ambitious galleries. An artist, critic or curator presents discursive content — work analysis, personal narrative, theoretical reflection — in a format borrowing from theatre its staging, audience relationship and temporality. Galerie Jocelyn Wolff in Paris has hosted this type of format, which attracts an audience at the crossroads of the art world and the intellectual world.

03Logistical challenges

Organising a gallery performance requires preparation that differs fundamentally from that of a works exhibition. The question of space comes first: should the gallery be emptied of works to accommodate the performance, or does the performance take place among exhibited works? The answer depends on the performance's nature, but in all cases, public circulation must be planned in advance to guarantee the safety of both people and works.

The sound question is often underestimated. A performance involving voice, music or noise can disturb neighbours, especially in residential areas. The dealer must check local noise regulations, inform neighbours and, if necessary, limit hours or install temporary acoustic insulation.

Public capacity must be assessed according to safety standards. A gallery that usually accommodates thirty simultaneous visitors cannot receive one hundred people for a performance without specific arrangements: flow management, security personnel, adapted evacuation plan. These constraints have a cost the dealer must include in the event budget.

The gallery's insurance must cover performance-related risks: performer injury, spectator-caused damage, deterioration of exhibited works. The dealer must verify with their insurer that the policy covers these specific risks, or take out a temporary extension.

04The economic question: how to sell the immaterial

Performance poses a fundamental question for the dealer: how to sell a work that is, by definition, ephemeral and leaves no object? Tino Sehgal resolved this by creating a specific sales protocol: his works are sold orally, without written contract or physical certificate, and the collector acquires the right to have the performance executed. This radical protocol is the exception rather than the rule.

In practice, several economic models coexist. Some artists produce performance relics — photographs, videos, objects used during the action — that become marketable works. Joseph Beuys's performance remains have entered the collections of the world's greatest museums. Marina Abramovic's performance videos are works in their own right, issued in limited editions and sold at prices reflecting the artist's renown.

Other artists regard performance as a communication tool that enhances the rest of their production. The performance attracts an audience and media attention that benefit visual works — paintings, sculptures, installations — presented simultaneously in the gallery. In this model, the performance is not directly commercialised, but it indirectly contributes to sales by amplifying the artist's and exhibition's visibility.

The dealer may also fund the performance through ticketing. A modest admission fee — ten to twenty euros — can cover part of production costs when the audience is sufficiently large. This model is common in hybrid venues between gallery and art centre, but remains unusual in commercial galleries where entry is traditionally free.

05The legal framework

Gallery performance raises legal questions the dealer must not overlook. Image rights for performers and audience must be governed: if the performance is filmed or photographed, consent must be obtained. Performers' status — artists, intermittent workers, volunteers — must be clarified, and their remuneration must comply with applicable conventions.

Copyright over the performance is a complex subject. Performance is protected by copyright when it is original, but the modalities of this protection differ from those applying to a painting or sculpture. The dealer must ensure the contract with the artist specifies the rights of recording, broadcast and reproduction of the performance.

The question of liability in case of an incident during the performance — spectator injury, performer illness, accidental damage — must be anticipated. An agreement between the gallery and artist specifying each party's responsibilities is an indispensable precaution.

06Performance as gallery identity

Some galleries have made performance a central element of their identity. Galerie Mor Charpentier in Paris champions artists whose practice includes performance, film and installation, and regularly programmes live events. Performa, the performance biennial founded in New York by RoseLee Goldberg, collaborates with galleries that host performances during the biennial, creating partnerships that benefit both the event and participating galleries.

The dealer who makes performance a programming axis attracts an audience different from that of the standard exhibition. Performance enthusiasts are often younger, more open to interdisciplinarity and more inclined to share their experience on social media. This audience, even if it does not buy immediately, contributes to the gallery's visibility and to building an engaged community around its programming.

Performance documentation is a curatorial challenge in itself. How to archive an ephemeral event without betraying it? Some galleries produce professional video recordings that become autonomous works; others choose photography as a trace; others still refuse all documentation, in the Tino Sehgal tradition, to preserve the experience's unique character. The documentation choice must be discussed with the artist in advance and integrated into the project from its conception. This documentation also constitutes a valuable communication tool: it enables relaying the event to those who could not attend and extending its impact over time.

Partnership with performing arts venues — theatres, choreographic centres, national stages — is a path some galleries explore successfully. The gallery and the theatre share a cultivated, curious audience sensitive to interdisciplinarity. A crossover programme, where the gallery hosts a performance and the theatre exhibits a visual installation, creates bridges between two audiences and two professional networks that mutually enrich each other. The Théâtre de la Ville in Paris and the Centre national de la danse in Pantin have developed collaborations with the contemporary art world that illustrate the fertility of these exchanges.

For Artedusa partner galleries, performances can be documented and relayed on the platform, offering distant collectors a glimpse of the programme's living dimension and reinforcing the gallery's image as a site of creation rather than mere commerce.