Zaven Paré

Zaven Paré is a visual artist whose practice lies at the intersection of artistic experimentation and technological research. A graduate of the École des Beaux-Arts de Paris, he has developed a pioneering body of work in new media, spanning machine art, robotics, interfaces, and performative devices.

Moving freely between low-tech and high-tech approaches, Paré creates poetic systems that combine mechanics, optics, pneumatics, and electronics. His research has taken him from Japanese robotics laboratories to Mumbai, the Mata Atlântica, and his studio in Rio de Janeiro. Among his innovations is the electronic puppet, emblematic of his exploration of the relationship between technology, movement, and the human presence.

His work has frequently crossed into the performing arts. His devices have been incorporated into productions by French playwright Valère Novarina and he has collaborated with choreographers Marie Chouinard and Édouard Lock, director Denis Marleau, composer Mauricio Kagel, the Dutch National Ballet, and the Opéra Bastille in Paris.

In 2009, Paré joined roboticist Hiroshi Ishiguro’s Robot Actors Project at the Intelligent Robotics Laboratory of Osaka University, further developing his research into robotics, artificial presence, and performance.

His work has received international recognition, including support from the French-American Fund for the Performing Arts at the California Institute of the Arts, a residency at Villa Kujoyama, and a fellowship from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science. He was also awarded the Instituto Sergio Motta Prize for Art and Technology in Brazil.

His works are held in private and institutional collections in France, Switzerland, Belgium, Italy, the United States, and Russia.

Zaven Paré is also the author of L’âge d’or de la robotique japonaise (Les Belles Lettres, 2016) and Le spectacle anthropomorphique, entre singes et robots (Les Presses du réel, 2021).

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