cneai =

What cneai = does

cneai = (Centre national édition art image) is a French non-profit contemporary art center structured as an association loi 1901 (SIRET 408 050 490 00023), founded in 1997 as Centre national de l'estampe et de l'art imprimé and renamed in 2012 to broaden its remit from print to edition and image-based contemporary art. The center operates an archipelago of distinct venues and programs anchored by La Maison Flottante, a 114m² habitable houseboat designed by Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec with architects Denis Daversin and Jean-Marie Finot, moored at Poses in Normandy and dedicated to artist residencies; La Maison Internationale, its headquarters at the Cité internationale universitaire de Paris; La Maison Boîte, a publishing and artist professionalization incubator; Les Maisons Volantes, a school-and-hospital-based cultural education outreach program; Les Maisons Monde, the international research and residency exchange arm; and the forthcoming La Maison Fleuve, a purpose-built river art center designed by Farid Azib in the Olympic ecoquartier of L'Île-Saint-Denis, opening in 2026. It maintains three permanent collections (Yona Friedman, FMRA, Multiples) and holds an active scientific-artistic research portfolio, most notably the ANR-funded PERMACHANGE (2026-2029) program on Arctic permafrost conducted with CNRS/GET, Alfred Wegener Institute, and other partners.

The center serves three principal constituencies: (1) contemporary artists across all media — performance, film, edition, installation, textile, craft — who require residency, production, professionalization, and distribution support; (2) school audiences in Île-de-France and Normandy engaged through the Maisons Volantes program, where students act as curators, mediators, and scenographers in collaborative exhibitions; and (3) international and institutional audiences reached via multilingual programming, university partnerships, and cross-border residency exchanges with Hong Kong, Beijing, Iceland, and the United States. The business model is entirely publicly funded — admission is free and there is no commercial pricing. Operating revenue derives from French public institutions: the Ministère de la Culture / DRAC Île-de-France, Région Île-de-France, Département de l'Eure, Agglomération Seine-Eure, Ville de Poses, ANR for specific research projects (PERMACHANGE), and project-specific partners such as Fondation Berger-Levrault and Villa Albertine. Leadership comprises Director Ann Stouvenel (since 2023, succeeding founder Sylvie Boulanger), President of the Board Steven Hearn, and a small core team of approximately six named professionals plus civic service and interns. The center is institutionally embedded via memberships in DCA and Arts en résidence - Réseau national, the latter co-presided by the current director.

The technology footprint is minimal and conventional for a public cultural institution: a bilingual French/English website, standard organic social channels (Instagram, Facebook, Vimeo, LinkedIn, X/Twitter), email newsletters, and participation in cultural events. There is no proprietary platform, no AI/ML capability, no API or SDK infrastructure, and no mobile applications. Distribution is built on physical multi-site presence, free admission, open calls for residencies, and partner-mediated school and hospital programming rather than on a commercial or technology-led go-to-market model.

Name

cneai =

Legal name

cneai = Centre national édition art image

Website

https://cneai.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1997

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

cneai = is a French non-profit contemporary art center (association loi 1901, founded 1997) that produces, exhibits, and disseminates contemporary art via a multi-site archipelago spanning Île-de-France, Normandy, and international partners, funded exclusively by French public institutions and serving artists, school audiences, and institutional/research communities.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Contemporary Art Center

NAICS

Museums (712110), Museums, Historical Sites, and Similar Institutions (7121)

akta.pro primary industry

Convention & Exhibition Centers (Public Convention Centers, Civic Centers) (THAHAAAA)

Keywords

• Contemporary art center
• Artist residencies
• Art education programs
• Art publishing
• Cultural mediation

Headquarters

HQ city

Paris

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices5 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Public institutional funding: As a nonprofit art center (association loi 1901), cneai = operates primarily through public funding from institutional partners including the Ministry of Culture (DRAC Île-de-France), Région Île-de-France, Département de l'Eure, Agglomération Seine-Eure, and Ville de Poses. Revenue is not generated through commercial sales or ticket revenue — admission is free.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

cneai = is a contemporary art center dedicated to the production and dissemination of contemporary art. It operates an archipelago of venues (Maison Flottante, Maison Boîte, Maison Fleuve, Maison Internationale) and programs (Maisons Volantes for art education, Maisons Monde for international residencies), maintaining three permanent collections (Yona Friedman, FMRA, Multiples) and offering free-admission exhibitions, artist residencies with stipends and production budgets, and cultural education programs.

Product overview

cneai = is a multi-site contemporary art center organized as an archipelago of distinct venues and programs. The core offering includes La Maison Flottante (floating artist residency boat), La Maison Boîte (artist incubator and production support), La Maison Fleuve (upcoming river art center), La Maison Internationale (headquarters at Cité internationale), Les Maisons Volantes (art education in schools), and Les Maisons Monde (international residencies). The center maintains three collections (Yona Friedman, FMRA, Multiples) and offers grant programs supporting artists through professionalization, production, and post-production phases across visual arts, film, performance, and edition.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Maison Flottante: A 114m2 habitable flat-bottomed boat designed by Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec, moored in Poses, Normandy, dedicated to artist residencies
• Maison Boîte
• Maison Fleuve
• Les Maisons Volantes
• Les Maisons Monde

Products and services

• La Maison Flottante A 114m² habitable flat-bottomed boat designed by Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec, moored at Poses in Normandy. Used for one-month artist residencies; residents receive a stipend, production budget, travel expenses, and participate in a public restitution event.
• La Maison Boîte

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 80 international artists and curators hosted in residence at La Maison Flottante (2006–2020)
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

34 partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and minor.

• Ministère de la Culture - DRAC Île-de-FrancecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPrimary structural funder of cneai = alongside Région Île-de-France. Provides operating budget, program support, and policy alignment for contemporary art center activities across Île-de-France and Normandy.
• Département de l'EurecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSupporting partner for Maison Flottante residencies and regional cultural programming in Normandy, alongside Agglomération Seine-Eure and Ville de Poses.
• Agglomération Seine-EurecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLocal authority partner in Normandy supporting the Maison Flottante residency program and artisan craft ecosystem around Poses.
• Ville de PosescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHost municipality for Maison Flottante. Daily support provided through local partnerships and community engagement for residency programming.
• Cité internationale universitaire de PariscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPrimary host institution for cneai = since 2021. The organization's headquarters are in the Maison internationale at CiuP. Joint programming includes the 2025 centenary 'Musée sans bâtiment' exhibition.
• Maison de l'Île-de-FrancemajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFirst positive-energy collective building in Île-de-France; co-presenting the Musée sans bâtiment centenary project with cneai = and other partner houses.
• Fondation AvicennemajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerHistoric foundation at CiuP; co-presenting the Musée sans bâtiment centenary programming with cneai =.
• Résidence Julie-Victoire DaubiéminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCiuP residence co-presenting the Musée sans bâtiment centenary programming.
• Bourse de Commerce (Pinault Collection)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCultural partner for the 'Parcours culturel' (cultural pathway) component of Expositions Volantes. Students visited the 'Arte Povera' exhibition at Bourse de Commerce as part of the program.
• Fondation Pernod-RicardmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCultural partner for the 'Parcours culturel' of Expositions Volantes; students visited the 'Miss Recurdo' exhibition.
• BétonsalonminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCultural partner for the cultural pathway visits in the Expositions Volantes program, with students visiting exhibitions.
• Le WonderminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner venue for cultural pathway visits and artist studio tours in the Expositions Volantes program.
• Rectorat - Académie de CréteilcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerInstitutional educational partner supporting the Expositions Volantes program with resources and coordination for participating schools.
• Geosciences Environment Toulouse (GET)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerScientific coordinator of PERMACHANGE (Laurent Orgogozo). Part of CNRS/OMP. Leads the scientific dimension of the Arctic permafrost research with integrated artistic residency component.
• Alfred Wegener InstitutemajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational scientific partner in PERMACHANGE, contributing to Arctic permafrost research alongside cneai ='s artistic programming.
• Arctic Danish Technical UniversitymajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerEuropean scientific partner in the PERMACHANGE project on Arctic permafrost modeling.
• Swedish Polar Research SecretariatmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSupports PERMACHANGE field research at the Abisko Scientific Research Station in Swedish Arctic.
• ENSAM (Arts et Métiers)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch laboratory partner (Procédés et Ingénierie en Mécanique des Matériaux) in the PERMACHANGE scientific consortium.
• École des Ponts (ENPC)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNavier lab partner in the PERMACHANGE scientific consortium contributing to permafrost modeling research.
• CNRSmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNational research partner contributing to the PERMACHANGE scientific consortium alongside cneai ='s artistic dimension.
• Arts & Santé, La ManufacturecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in the 'Itinéraire contemporain' program bringing art workshops to four hospitals in the Paris region. Didier Clain's origami workshops and related programming are delivered through this partnership.
• DSDEN 93 (Direction des services départementaux de l'éducation nationale de Seine-Saint-Denis)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerInstitutional partner for the Arc-en-Ciel nursery school residency (Violaine Lochu, 2024-2025) and broader Arts & Cultural Education programming in Seine-Saint-Denis.
• Villa AlbertinemajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAwarding body and institutional host for Giulia Grossmann's 2025 residency 'Océan écran' at Woods Hole marine biology laboratories, co-produced with cneai = and ArTeC.
• ArTeC (École Universitaire de Recherche)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerConsortium partner of cneai = in arts and technology research. Co-produces multiple artist projects (Giulia Grossmann, Anousha Mohtashami, Ulla von Brandenburg) and supports the Maison Boîte grants program. Member of ComUE Université Paris Lumières.
• Videotage (Hong Kong)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerInitiated the cross-cultural Paris/Hong Kong residency project involving Videotage, cneai =, and the Consulat général de France à Hong Kong et Macao. Artists Mae Chan and Vvzela Kook were hosted through this partnership.
• YiShu8majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerArt center between Paris and Beijing providing hosting space for international residency exchanges under the Micromégas Paris/Hong Kong program.
• Plaine CommunecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLocal government authority that commissioned and co-produced Abraham Poincheval's 'La Bouteille' performance on the Canal Saint-Denis for Paris 2024 Games, produced by cneai =.
• Plaine CommunecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in the inauguration of the Olympic ecoquartier at L'Île-Saint-Denis. President Mathieu Hanotin participated in the opening ceremony for the new district where Maison Fleuve will be located.
• IlotopiemajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerArtistic partner co-producing Abraham Poincheval's 'La Bouteille' public installation and performance on the Canal Saint-Denis.
• Sacha Rey (Artist) / Multiple institutional partnersmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerProject 'État des lieux des forces en présence' involves an unusually large number of institutional partners: ArTeC, Culture Moves Europe, Institut Français de Barcelone, SOMA, Hangar X Triangle Astérides, Fondation des Artistes, Mécènes du Sud, CNC, Artagon, ESAAIX.
• Arts en résidence - Réseau nationalcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNational network of residency structures; cneai = is a member and co-founder Ann Stouvenel serves as co-president. Provides best-practice frameworks, ethical charters, and remuneration scales (with DCA).
• DCA (Fédération des centres d'art contemporain)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFrench association for the development of contemporary art centers; cneai = is a member and applies DCA's ethical charters and best-practice guides for artist remuneration and institutional operations.
• Maison FleuvemajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCneai ='s new headquarters opening 2026 at L'Île-Saint-Denis. Will host the mid-project event of PERMACHANGE (2028) including public encounter and exhibition on the scientific, artistic, and cultural project.
• EPHAD Les Jardins d'Iroise, Dammarie-les-LysminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerIntergenerational partner in Exposition Volante #1 (Vaux-le-Pénil), where students collaborated with residents on tactile exhibition labels.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves12 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Palais de Tokyo: Largest Paris contemporary art center with overlapping programming in exhibitions, residencies, and performance. Operates as a broader incumbent in the same institutional space with much greater scale and broader funding base.
• Centre Pompidou: France's flagship national museum for modern and contemporary art with a vast permanent collection and rotating exhibitions. Shares with cneai = the institutional setting of the Cité internationale universitaire de Paris ecosystem but operates at massively greater scale as a national collection holder.

Direct peers

• Triangle France - Astérides: Marseille-based artist residency and production center operating in a similar non-profit, publicly funded mode with open-call international residencies. Shares with cneai = the same production-and-residency model, public funding base, and membership in national networks like Arts en résidence and DCA.
• Bétonsalon - Centre d'art et de recherche: Paris-based contemporary art center with comparable scale, public funding model, free admission, and artist-residency plus mediation programming. Listed in cneai ='s own partnerships as a cultural pathway partner for the Expositions Volantes program, indicating close operational comparability.
• Le Crédac - Centre d'art contemporain d'Ivry: Ivry-based contemporary art center labeled 'centre d'art contemporain d'intérêt national', with shared DCA membership and similar scope of exhibitions, residencies, and éditions. Comparable institutional size and free-admission public programming model.
• Villa Médicis - Académie de France à Rome: French-funded international artist residency under the same Ministry of Culture ecosystem as cneai =. Comparable on the residency/professionalization axis and on national cultural-policy positioning, though at a much larger scale and based abroad.
• CAC Brétigny - Centre d'art contemporain d'intérêt national: French contemporary art center of national interest with comparable funding profile (DRAC, Région, Département) and programming mix of exhibitions, residencies, and cultural mediation. Closest functional peer to cneai = within the DCA network.
• Lafayette Anticipations - Fondation d'entreprise Galeries Lafayette: Paris contemporary art center operating a flagship venue with exhibitions, residencies, and a commissioning program for emerging and established artists. Comparable in scale, programming mix, and free public access, though funded through a corporate foundation rather than direct public subsidy.
• La Ferme du Buisson - Centre d'art contemporain: Noisiel contemporary art center combining exhibitions, residencies, and cultural-education programming in a multi-site cultural institution. Similar operational model — public funding, free admission, school programs — in the same DCA national network.
• Magasin - Moulins, Centre National d'Art Contemporain: National contemporary art center based in a converted industrial building, focused on production and exhibition of contemporary art with free public access and publicly funded operations. Direct institutional peer to cneai = under the same French national label.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubevimeo.com/cneai
• Facebookfacebook.com/cneai
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/cneai
• Instagraminstagram.com/cneai.artcenter

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about cneai =