Magma is a new high end annual art and literary magazine from France offering thought-provoking contributions from 18 artists, writers, architects, filmmakers, sculptors and photographers, based on an invitation (to the artist or their estate) to provide an original or an unseen work, created for the publication. In this way Magma sees itself as part of – and, to a degree, reviving – the grand European art journal of the 20th century which fostered important forums for artistic expression, where artists and writers might collaborate and co-create.
Magma is curated by creative director Paul Olivennes and its opulence funded by luxury fashion house Bottega Veneta. The inaugural hardcover edition is published in a limited numbered and edition of 2000 copies which include two inserted artworks (an exclusive X-Ray LP record by Andra Ursuţa and a facsimile of an unpublished letter from French poet and former French resistance fighter René Char).
Foreword by Hans Ulrich Obrist with contributions and artworks by Lucas Arruda, Alaa Al Aswany, Charles Baudelaire, Boris Bergmann, Tim Breuer, Sophie Calle, René Char, Erri De Luca, Luigi Ghirri, Édouard Glissant, J.W. Von Goethe, François Halard, Nathanaelle Herbelin, India Mahdavi, Claude Nori, Frida Orupabo, Andra Ursutaand and Agnès Varda.
English and French text