Vinciane Despret and Estelle Zhong Mengual
Tuesday 17 Nov 2026 from 7pm to 8:30pm
Free on booking
Talk in french
How can we perceive what acts in silence? To mark Yu Nishimura’s exhibition, Vinciane Despret and Estelle Zhong Mengual discuss the discreet presences that populate our lives and the ways in which we might pay attention to them.
In Yu Nishimura’s paintings, human and animal figures appear to be suspended, whether in the forest or in the city. These beings, captured outside of any obvious action, invite us to observe what is unfolding in stillness, silence or anticipation. Taking these images as a starting point, the discussion explores what affects us without always being visible: memories, the traces of an encounter, and bonds that endure in absence. How can we learn to perceive what we do not notice is there?
By bringing together philosophy, art history and everyday experiences, the philosopher Vinciane Despret and the art historian Estelle Zhong Mengual invite us to reconsider what it means to be present, to act and to leave a trace.
The discussion will be moderated by Joshua De Paiva, a philosopher and researcher specialising in aesthetics and the philosophy of art. He is particularly interested in the relationships between contemporary art and the living world, as well as in how works of art can transform our relationship with other living beings.
With a PhD in art history, she has taught on the Master’s programme in Art and Politics (SPEAP), founded by Bruno Latour at Sciences Po, as well as at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Her research focuses on the relationships between art – past and present – and the living world.
She is the author of several books, including Apprendre à voir. The Perspective of the Living (2021) and Painting in Close Quarters: Flowers and Georgia O’Keeffe (2022). In 2023, she created Non-Human Dances with choreographer Jérôme Bel at the Louvre Museum. In 2024, she created Starting This World Anew with Jérôme Bel and actress Jolente De Keersmaeker.
In 2026, she worked with director Clara Hédouin on a theatrical adaptation of her recent writings at La Comédie de Caen, where she is an associate artist.
Her new book is due to be published in March 2027 by Actes Sud.
After discovering the work of ethologists, she turned her research towards the philosophy of science. Examining and questioning our relationship with animals lies at the heart of her work. She has published numerous books, including When the Wolf Lives with the Lamb (2004), Thinking Like a Rat (2009), Le Chez-Soi des animaux (2017), Que diraient les animaux… si on leur posait les bonnes questions ? (2018) and Habiter en oiseau (2019).
Together with the architectural practice Bento, Vinciane Despret curated the Belgian Pavilion for the 2023 Venice Architecture Biennale.
He recently published À l’épreuve de l'art with the Nuée collective (2025) and Ce que le vivant fait à l'art (2026).
As an independent curator, he co-founded La Déménagerie to support institutions seeking to carve out a new place for the living world within our culture.