Six days of art, music and performance: REFERENCE FESTIVAL made its Paris debut, turning the city into a meeting point for contemporary culture during Art Basel Paris.

From October 20 to 25, REFERENCE FESTIVAL took over several locations across Paris, including the Institut du Monde Arabe, Silencio and Dover Street Market. Under the title FREIE KUNST, its first Paris edition brought together artists, musicians, designers and cultural thinkers. Alongside the performances and installations, a series of conversations brought together figures from art and cultural institutions to discuss authorship, creative freedom and the future of cultural spaces.

Among the festival’s defining moments was a 24-hour collaboration between artist John Gerrard and electronic music pioneer Richie Hawtin at the Institut du Monde Arabe, where digital art and sound unfolded in an immersive dialogue. As night fell, this exchange found its continuation at Silencio with MINUS+ / SPIRITS, a party curated by Hawtin. The venue had already set the tone on opening night with a party celebrating CLUB KID, the directorial debut of actor and filmmaker Jordan Firstman. Set against New York’s nightlife scene, the film follows an underground party promoter whose hedonistic lifestyle is upended when he unexpectedly becomes a father, exploring the tension between nightlife, identity and growing up. The night featured DJ sets from Michel Gaubert, Betsy Johnson, Mina Galan and wordofcommand.

Eartheater’s appearance, framed by a series of 3D-printed Grecian urns, moved between performance and sculpture, while Donna Huanca’s ephemeral ice installation introduced a more transient, almost vanishing presence. The closing programme shifted towards the moving image, bringing FKA Twigs’ Body High documentary into focus. A subsequent panel discussion with the artist, her co-creative director Jordan Hemingway and Bettina Milz of the forthcoming Pina Bausch Centre explored the collaborative nature of her work and its relationship to movement and performance.

Founded by Mumi Haiati in Berlin in 2019, REFERENCE FESTIVAL continues to position itself as a platform for exchange, bringing together established and emerging voices across art, fashion and music. With FREIE KUNST, the festival extended its Berlin-based vision to Paris, creating a space where art and subcultures could intersect. Its next chapter will take place in Wuppertal.