“Radiant”: Kapwani Kiwanga’s artwork for the future CDG2 station on line 17

For the future station Charles de Gaulle Airport 2 TGVOn line 17 of the Grand Paris Express, the artist Kapwani Kiwanga signs "Radiant", a monumental installation blending light, metal and verticality. Suspended from the walkways of the vast access shaft, the work transforms the transit space into a sensitive and poetic experience, inspired by the movement of travelers and solar symbolism.

Kapwani Kiwanga: a major artist on the contemporary scene

French-Canadian artist based in Europe, Kapwani Kiwanga established itself through its approach combining research history, memory, sociology and visual poetry. Winner of several prestigious awardsShe develops a versatile body of work. (installation, sculpture, performance) which explores forgotten narratives, power dynamics, and multiple temporalities.
For the future Charles de Gaulle Airport Station 2It was chosen as part of the major artistic commission for the Grand Paris Express, which associates each station with a contemporary creation that engages closely with the architecture.

« Radiant ": A monumental work for CDG2

At the heart of the station's access shaft, Kapwani Kiwanga unfolds eight metal curtains, eight meters high and fifteen meters wideMade of aluminum chains set with brass, these golden curtains are suspended from the walkways overlooking the quays.
Along the vertical walls, a brass ribbon (nearly 85 meters) traces elliptical shapes that extend the installation.
The whole thing creates a luminous landscape that captures, diffuses and transforms the light from the station, creating an effect of depth and continuous movement.

Symbolism: light, flow and cycles

With "Rayonnant", Kapwani Kiwanga explores the themes of movement and the cycleThe large ellipses that it draws in space evoke the sun, a universal symbol of warmth and gathering places, but also the trajectories of travelers going from one point to another.
According to the artist, these shapes are a metaphor people who are moving aroundThey return, they cross paths, a continuous movement that reflects the life of transit places.

The interplay of transparency, verticality and light transforms the station into a space for contemplation, where one gradually slips from the aerial world of the terminals to the underground depths of the metro.

A new experience for travelers

Thanks to the subtle dialogue between the installation and the station's architecture, "Rayonnant" offers passengers a suspended momentMetal curtains, like luminous draperies, accompany the descent and invite a slowing of the gaze.
The artwork gives the CDG2 station a strong, recognizable identity, and contributes to the Grand Paris Express's desire to make its stations true cultural venues, not just transport spaces.
To be discovered by 2030!