“Égards obliques“ (oblique  glances)  at the musée des beaux-arts de la Chaux-de-Fonds invites visitors to shift their perspective. Through a selection of projects and artworks, matali crasset seeks to create a shift in our perception. She explains: “To create a misalignment that allows us to break free from our established ways of thinking and develop a more nuanced regard for all beings, living and non-living. ’ The exhibition is structured around three themes that propose new forms of habitability and living together, through design conceived as a lever for social and ecological transformation.

La communauté qui (de)vient (The Community That Comes Together)

The Community That Comes Together is a wooden structure designed as a social space for discussion and public speaking. Before the discussion begins, the topics for debate are displayed on the panels surrounding the structure. Participants take stools when the discussion starts to form an agora. Once the gathering is over, everyone puts the stool they used back in place to close the dome. The structure then takes on a defensive role, protecting collective positions and shared decisions. In a context where public space is being used less and less, this installation affirms the desire to revitalise the public sphere, by recreating spaces for shared dialogue and thereby contributing to a form of social cohesion. 

Les espèces existentielles et Antretemps (Existential Species and Antretemps)

matali crasset also writes fiction and designs ways of life to imagine new communities capable of inhabiting the Earth in a healthier, more conscious and more supportive manner. She invents new narratives which she describes as fantasies, but which are in fact akin to ecotopias. These stories are not merely abstract utopias; they propose frameworks for living designed to repair our fragile societies and pave the way for desirable futures where the collective, ecology and care for living beings become founding principles. Antretemps is a community, created by matali crasset, which takes shape in the exhibition through tapestries that define the shared values of its members. It is a mobile community that travels to regions where the Earth’s habitability has deteriorated. From place to place, it works to raise awareness and weave a network of mutual aid. Little by little, Antretemps rekindles the possibility of desirable futures. Through fantasy and ecotopia, the artist opens up a space where the imagination becomes a form of resistance. Les espèces existentielles is a gallery of tapestry portraits. These half-human, half-animal figures are created to challenge our acceptance of otherness (the ‘other’ in their difference), whether human or non-human.

Le temps de la restitution  (The Time for Reclamation)

This experimental dwelling is designed to foster a different relationship with waste and material cycles. Built to scale, this prototype house allows for the exploration of self-sufficient living scenarios, where every daily action contributes to a virtuous cycle. Inspired by Neolithic ‘pithouses’, it takes the form of a small round house, raised on a mound of earth. Everything that comes from the ground must return to it; hatches all around the structure allow for filling the compost, ventilating the dwelling or draining water. The idea is to be able to produce, consume and return: this is the cycle that this house embodies. Its elevation 1 metre above the ground creates a space where waste is visible and can be more easily reused as a resource.

Cette habitation expérimentale est conçue pour instaurer une autre relation aux déchets et aux cycles de la matière. Réalisée à l’échelle 1, cette maison-prototype permet d’expérimenter des scénarios de vie autonomes, où chaque geste quotidien participe à un cycle vertueux. Inspirée des "pithouses" néolithiques, elle se présente sous la forme d’une petite maison ronde, surélevée sur une butte de terre. Tout ce qui vient du sol doit y retourner, des trappes tout autour de la structure permettent de remplir le compost, de ventiler l'habitation ou encore d'évacuer l'eau. L'idée est de pouvoir produire, consommer, restituer : tel est le cycle que cette maison matérialise. Sa surélévation à 1 mètre du sol crée un espace où les déchets se voient et se réutilisent plus facilement en ressources.

until august 9, 2026

musée des Beaux-Arts de La Chaux-de-Fonds, rue des musées  CH-2300 La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzertland