BMW France showcases “Crossing the Missing Fragment” — where motion meets memory

BMW France presents “Crossing the Missing Fragment” at Paris Photo 2025, blending automotive aesthetics with contemporary art to explore motion, memory, and innovation.

BMW France brings its passion for design and motion into the art world with the exhibition “Crossing the Missing Fragment” at Paris Photo 2025. Under the dome of the Grand Palais, from November 13 to 16, the brand once again proves that technology and creativity share the same engine — curiosity and precision.

This year, the automaker is more than a partner; it becomes a co-creator of cultural dialogue. Just as BMW engineers pursue balance between performance and beauty, artist Raphaelle Peria and curator Fanny Robin explore the fleeting balance between memory and nature. Their project transforms photography into a space of motion — a visual drive through time.

At the heart of the exhibition lies a rediscovered childhood journey along the Canal du Midi, now overshadowed by the disease Ceratocystis platani that devastates its plane trees. Peria, much like a craftsman restoring a classic car, scratches away the photographic surface to reveal what lies beneath — traces of history, erosion, and endurance.

The scenography mirrors BMW’s design philosophy. Copper surfaces reflect the Grand Palais’s glass ceiling like the polished bodywork of a car. Light becomes a dynamic material, shifting across the space the way sunlight glides along a car’s contour in motion. The exhibition’s geometry echoes the aerodynamics of elegance — structured, fluid, and purposeful.

Part of the BMW ART MAKERS program, the project embodies the company’s commitment to precision and innovation. The laureates receive a €33,000 grant to research and create — a process not unlike developing a new BMW model, from concept to realization. Each work becomes a prototype of emotion, tuned with the same care as a finely engineered engine.

For BMW, art is another road — one that leads from mechanics to meaning. From the historic BMW Art Cars to partnerships with Paris Photo, the brand continues to link motion with imagination. “Crossing the Missing Fragment” reminds viewers that progress isn’t only measured in speed or power, but also in reflection — the drive to preserve beauty as the world accelerates around us.