Since its opening, Silencio has stood apart as more than a club—it’s a cultural institution. Conceived by David Lynch with Raphaël Navot, the venue was built as a creative sanctuary where music, film, art, and conversation converge. Over the years, Silencio has become a hub for experimentation, hosting bold collaborations and nurturing encounters that spark new ideas. In this interview, we explore its vision, identity, and enduring role in shaping Paris’s nightlife.
Arnaud Frisch on Cultivating Creative Spaces
Portrait by Guillaume Roemaet.
Ann Imhof, courtesy of Silencio.
WHITEWALL: Silencio became a cultural institution. What was the initial vision?
ARNAUD FRISCH: I have always had the desire to bring people together through culture. Silencio is more than a nightlife venue : it was designed as a space for artists and the creative industries, a place of freedom, a place to nurture creation. Silencio is an intimate social studio: here you watch a film, attend to a live set, participate in a talk… This fosters encounters and gives birth to new projects. Aesthetics matter, but the core is hospitality and creation.
“It was designed as a space for artists and the creative industries, a place of freedom, a place to nurture creation,”
– Arnaud Frisch
WW: Why mix club culture with art, film, and music?
AF: Creativity sparks at meeting points. By crossing disciplines, we create fertile ground for serendipity. It’s an inspirational lab. Great ideas emerge when different perspectives converge.
Club culture itself has always been a space of creation, freedom, and counterculture: from New York’s Studio 54 to Berlin’s Berghain, or the Hacienda in Manchester. These places were more than dance floors: they were cultural incubators where music, art, fashion, and social change intertwined. Silencio stands in that lineage, reaffirming the club as a timeless arena for experimentation and collective expression.
Cultural Shifts in Paris
CINÉMA VIDE, photo by Alexandre Guirkinger, courtesy of Silencio.
WW: Which collaborations stand out?
AF: Some stand out as milestones: David Lynch, whose singular, cinematic imagination gave Silencio its surreal and timeless identity; Virgil Abloh, who injected his disruptive, multidisciplinary vision into our collaboration at the Théâtre du Châtelet (Joséphine); and Harry Nuriev, whose radical and futuristic design language reshaped our spaces at Silencio New York. What truly marks us are not one-off moments, but relationships that deepen, grow, and leave a lasting imprint on our identity.
“Music, visual arts, and cinema collide and inspire each other,”
– Arnaud Frisch
WW: How is Paris’s cultural scene evolving with its nightlife?
AF: Paris is undergoing a profound shift where nightlife and cultural institutions increasingly intertwine. Boundaries between clubs, performance spaces, and cultural venues are blurring, creating a new ecosystem of creativity. The night has become a space for artistic experimentation, where music, visual arts, and cinema collide and inspire each other. From Wolfgang Tillmans showing works at Centre Pompidou to Arca transforming the Bourse de Commerce with performance and music, these examples embody a broader movement. It is, in a way, the spirit of what we explored with Salo in 2016: treating the night as a cultural stage in itself. This fusion reflects a deeper cultural transformation, turning Paris into a living laboratory of contemporary creativity.
What to Know
Pharrell Williams, Takashi Murakami, courtesy of Silencio.
Don’t Miss: An intimate cultural hub where film, music, art, and conversation converge under one roof.
Why it Matters: Silencio redefines nightlife as a creative incubator, continuing the legacy of clubs as cultural stages and spaces of experimentation.
Artists Included: David Lynch, Virgil Abloh, Harry Nuriev, plus ongoing collaborations across film, music, and design.
Favorite Moments: Lynch’s surreal design vision, Abloh’s multidisciplinary Théâtre du Châtelet project, and Nuriev’s futuristic reimagining of Silencio New York.
Silencio Concert Hall, photo by Alexandre Guirkinger, courtesy of Silencio.
