Ruinart unveils Tadashi Kawamata installations above its historic chalk cellars in Reims

Maison Ruinart has expanded its “Conversations with Nature” program in 2026 with a new collaboration with Japanese artist Tadashi Kawamata at its historic site at 4, Rue des Crayères in Reims, linking contemporary art with the Champagne house’s environmental message and visitor experience.

Kawamata, who was born in 1953 in Hokkaidō and works between Tokyo and Paris, has created three site-specific installations for Ruinart: Observatory, Nest and Tree Hut. The works were designed for the grounds above the house’s historic crayères, or chalk cellars, and focus on what Ruinart describes as the fragile balance between biodiversity, climate and champagne production.

The largest of the three, Observatory, is a six-meter-high structure topped by a platform that gives visitors a raised view over the vineyard and forest landscape. Kawamata said the work changes perception by placing viewers above ground level and exposing them directly to wind, sun and clouds. “The world is not the same when observed from six meters above the ground,” he said.

Nest is suspended from the facade of a historic building on the property and is intended as a metaphor for refuge, home and trust. Kawamata said the piece reflects the idea that shelter is never arbitrary, adding that birds “do not build their nests just anywhere.” Tree Hut consists of small wooden huts set within the branches of trees on the site, extending his recurring interest in temporary structures placed between earth and sky.

Ruinart said the project continues a long-running effort to connect art, heritage and environmental stewardship. The house traces that approach back to 1896, when it commissioned Alphonse Mucha for its first advertisement. In recent years, “Conversations with Nature” has become its main platform for commissioning artists to address biodiversity and ecological change through installations tied to Champagne landscapes.

Frédéric Dufour, president of Maison Ruinart, said the company uses these collaborations to deepen public awareness of nature and the need to live in harmony with other living beings. The new commission also ties artistic expression to Ruinart’s patrimony, from its underground chalk quarries to its surface vineyards.

Kawamata’s work is known for using simple and often reused materials such as wood planks, chairs and barrels. His installations typically leave their assembly visible and emphasize instability, weathering and impermanence. Ruinart said those qualities made him a natural fit for a project centered on climate shifts, seasonal cycles and the vulnerability of ecosystems.

The artist has exhibited widely at institutions including the Pompidou Centre, the Serpentine Gallery and MACBA, and has also appeared at the Venice Biennale and Documenta. His practice sits between sculpture, architecture and in-situ installation, often inviting viewers to move through or inhabit his structures rather than simply observe them.

Beyond Reims, Ruinart plans to present Kawamata’s broader creative universe at major international art fairs including Art Basel, Frieze and TEFAF. Those presentations will include smaller-scale works such as collages made from leftover wood and cardboard used in model-making, miniature building plans exploring volume and space, and pieces from his Destruction series focused on ruins and traces of construction.

Kawamata follows a line of artists commissioned by Ruinart for “Conversations with Nature,” including Mouawad + Laurier in 2019 with Retour aux Sources, Tomás Saraceno in 2021 with Movement, NILS-UDO in 2022 with Habitats in the Taissy vineyard, Eva Jospin in 2023 with Promenades, and Marcus Coates in 2024 with Nature Calendar.