WE ARE [still] HERE: Invader within the Petit Palais collections

WE ARE [still] HERE brought 75 French and international artists to the Petit Palais in Paris from June 20 to September 20, 2026. Invader participated in a free exhibition organised around encounters between urban art and the museum’s existing collections. Guest curator and artistic director Mehdi Ben Cheikh developed the project as a second instalment following WE ARE HERE in 2024. The museum’s June press release describes more than 200 works across the presentation.

Two ways into the museum

The route began within the permanent-collection galleries, where works by Invader, D*Face, eL Seed, EvazéSir, Hopare, Mark Jenkins and others entered into dialogue with the museum’s holdings. It then led to the larger group installation in Salle Concorde. Those two settings gave the exhibition different registers: individual encounters within an established collection, followed by a concentrated assembly of contemporary practices.

That distinction helps explain Invader’s participation more precisely than a name on a group-show roster. The museum identifies him among artists contributing previously unseen works to the permanent-collection route. His presence was part of the proposed exchange with the building’s art-historical context. The press material does not identify the exact works, however, so it cannot establish their titles, media or edition status.

For Salle Concorde, the museum explicitly invoked the nineteenth-century Salon tradition, in which exhibitions introduced the artists of their time and helped new movements emerge. The comparison frames urban art as a contemporary contribution to a continuing exhibition history. Read in that light, the group format is an argument about visibility and recognition: many distinct practices are gathered within an institution rather than represented by a single emblematic artist.

What “still” adds to the return

The 2026 project built on an existing connection. Works by Seth and Inti had been integrated into the permanent-collection route since 2024; the June announcement described their donation as in progress. Their continued presence supplied a bridge between the two exhibitions. The new title can consequently be read as a claim to continuity, with the later show developing a relationship already visible in the museum.

The programme also put particular emphasis on the French scene, with 43 participating artists, while retaining an international field including Shepard Fairey, Swoon, Vhils, Add Fuel and ROA. That structure allowed a locally focused survey to sit within a wider movement. The shared setting did not require the participants to adopt a single technique or visual vocabulary.

During the historical run, access was free through the permanent collections, Tuesday through Sunday, with last entry at 5:15 p.m. A mobile interpretation app accompanied the visit. The museum’s exhibition record now marks the show closed. Its significance for Invader’s exhibition history is the documented museum intervention; no new print launch is established by his participation.