Welcome! Behind The Lens With Aline Deschamps, What's New & Chinese Ravioli
The great people and places in Paris that we just don't talk about enough: openings, delicious dumplings, a new African art hub, catching up with photojournalist Aline Deschamps and more!
Hi! I’m Rooksana Hossenally, writing about art, food and travel for papers and mags like Condé Nast Traveller, Forbes and Monocle. I’m originally from London (with a French mother and Mauritian father) and I’ve been living in Paris for about a decade. I’ve lost count of the number of times friends and followers have asked for tips on Paris and they’ve spurred me on to launch this newsletter. I hope you’ll enjoy reading about my - and my friends’ - special finds in this shiny new monthly dose of people and places worth making a note of somewhere in your phone/diary/on the back of an envelope/your hand, that just don’t get enough of the limelight. So welcome, and more than anything, a super-huge THANK YOU for being here.
If you do just 3 things this month…
Dig deep inside an old factory
I met Gaël at one of the most established street art galleries in Paris a few years back, where he was working at the time. He was the glue that kept projects together and the quiet force that made them happen. If you don’t know him already, you will soon, because he’s got plenty coming our way. Now an art curator, Gaël Lefeuvre’s beat is anything immersive and urban, often a little obscure but hauntingly precise. That sums up his third group show SUPER TERRAM (‘above ground’, in Latin), for which he’s brought together 11 artists from all over the world to create works that question our modern-day lives, uprooted and disconnected from nature, spirituality and emotion. The show takes visitors through a 3,000m2 space covered in soil, a symbol of eternal life, scattered with artworks inside an old factory.
SUPER TERRAM 10th February-19th March. Espace Voltaire, 81 boulevard Voltaire, 75011 Paris. Free (Wednesdays-Sundays 11am-7pm).
Get to know your old and new African art
It’s no breaking news that nonwhite artists are underrepresented, but it is interesting to have a new African art hub popping up in an area that has long had a traditional gallery scene - is this the beginning of a new era for Saint-Germain-des-Prés? Les Verrières encompasses three galleries, including 31 PROJECT bringing together the works of all of its artists: Georgina Maxim’s textile works, paintings by Zimbabwean painter Epheas Maposa and South African artist Mawande Ka Zenzile, drawings and relief works by Nigerian artist Kelani Abass, photographs by Charlotte Yonga and works by Katharien de Villers, a Cape Town-based visual artist. Charles-Wesley Hourdé, an expert in ancient art from Africa, Oceania and America, who’s leading the project, will also present sculptures selected for their aesthetic qualities, rarity and historical importance.
Les Verrières (no website), 41 rue de Seine, 75006 Paris. Free (Tuesdays-Saturdays from 2.30-7pm, by appointment only in the morning).
Find out where chefs eat
It’s a question I always ask chefs, because who better to glean recommendations from, right? Now, Luca Pronzato, the headman of We Are Ona, the clan creating dining pop-ups all over the world, has compiled his favourite chefs’ recommendations in a freshly launched snazzy new app. On The Chefs’ Guide, 300 chefs from 30 countries share their favourite eats - 3,000 places, to be exact. Now, the next time you’re at a loss for where to eat, you’ll know where to go.
Want more ideas for what to do this month? See our calendar of openings, projects and launches below.
On the menu
@ParisChinois’ Instagram is where I go for all my Chinese food recs, especially dumplings… now you know! Everyone loves the comforting goodness of dumplings but very few people know where to get the real deal. Not only has she spent seven years in China, but Paris Chinois has pushed the doors to almost all of Paris’ tucked-away corners. Here, she shares her very secret list of places she goes to dig into these delicate little wheat flour pockets. You’ll want to get your notebook out for this.
“I am not your animal”
Surprisingly modest, hugely talented and deeply committed, Aline Deschamps is a photojournalist shining a light on the invisible. She’s come a long way since I met her at a street art project in Djerba eight years ago. Her series “I am not your animal” about women slave workers from Sierra Leone in Beirut received high acclaim and won her a Canon ambassadorship and the Lagardère prize at the end of 2022. Aline and I caught up a couple of weeks ago about everything from love to human rights.
And the winners are…
The nominations are all in and as we wait awards night for the César (basically France’s equivalent to the Oscars) on 24th February in Paris, we asked Louis Lepron, former Konbini Editor-in-Chief-turned-full-time-photographer and the biggest French film fan we know, to give us the lowdown on what films we absolutely have to see.
Secret Paris (really!)
Every time I tell someone - even a local - where I live, the response is almost always: “Uhm, Les Epinettes? Where?” A little slice of village life slotted between Saint Ouen and the Batignolles, 20 mins’ walk from Montmartre, it’s here in a quirky townhouse, one of the few in the city, that Catherine Deneuve was born, and in another that artist Simon Hantaï lived… Today, it’s a small community of artists and people from all over the world, with lots of independent spots lined up along the rue de la Jonquière.
And breathe…
As some of you already know, I’m a bit of a hotel fiend, and have reviewed a fair share of places, including in my adopted home city of Paris. So, as everyone always asks, what are the best hotels to stay at in town? Of course, it depends on budget and personal taste, but I do have a few favourites, which I’ll be sharing here every month. The first is Hoy, short for House of Yoga, which gives away the vibe, but not in that let’s-all-move-to-India-and-join-an-ashram type of way… It’s a space that fits with today’s urban lifestyle, with dried flowers by artist Chiaki Kokami for sale in the lobby that flows into the reception area and then the bar and then the restaurant, a yoga studio upstairs and then rooms too…
Retro bath time
You’ve bought the made-in-France candle and the made-in-France perfume, the made-in-France tea and the steel cooking pot… so here’s an idea that’s easy to wrap up, send by post or keep for yourself. This month, put a new spin on bath time with beautiful soaps and bathroom accessories by Le Baigneur (the bather), supposedly a men’s grooming brand, but for everyone. Founder Fabien Meaudre works hard to keep all products natural, organic and free from harmful chemicals and packaging plastic-free. Also, he makes it all in his 11th-arrondissement workshop, which you can peek at through the glass walls of the shop.
Merci, gracias, danke, thank you for opening this first instalment of What’s Up, Paris? and taking the time to delve in with me! It’s been a pleasure bringing you dispatches from the frontline. Hope you liked it! If you did, or if you didn’t, or anything in between, let me know!
You can also get in touch with general enquiries or questions about collaborations and partnerships: whatsuppariscontact@gmail.com.
See you again next month! Look out for the next instalment coming to you in the first week of March!