Exhibition at the town hall

Hi guys!

Last friday with Agathe we went to Lille’s town hall. There are some free exhibitons there. First we saw an exhibition maded by 26 local artists. It will stay at this palce from 8.12.09 to 23.12.09. There were a lot of works of art very diferent from each other. We could see painting, sculptures, draws, photography.

But the most interesting was few meters further. I am talking about the Universal Declaration of Human Rights ‘s exhibition. You will see it until saturday, the 19th of december.There will be conference, debate, movies, shows, theatre, exhibitions.

This exhibition existe to celebrate the 61st birthday of the universal declaration of human rights. I will tell you about the “muraille des droits humains en Chine”. The subject was “Tienanmen, denial of memory”. There were articles and newspaper on a wall about the 4.06.89 when demonstrators for democracy were attacked in Pekin by policemen. You can read artcile about the contexte: when Hu Yaobang, the secretary-general of comunism political party, died in april 89, there were manifestations. But policemen repressed demonstrators and about a hundred or a thousand persones were killed.

There were also articles about China today and liberty of expression, summary executions, 68 crime which can be punish by death, worker’s rights and minority oppressed (like Tibet).

You should go to see, we learn a lot of things!

Soizic

I havent’ sign it!  it was Soizic in live from Lille 3 ‘s librairy!

Maybe if someone goes to the preview, he can tell me how it was, because i won’t be in Lille this weekend! I know that in few days there will be another preview with artist who sing gospel, i will tell you more about that, because it will be great (well, in my opinion…)!

L’EXPO

Hi everybody!

Last saturday i have discovered a new place (it have opened in july 09) which seems to be very interesting! This L’EXPO- café gallerie, the first kind of place in Lille. You can find it next the grand place and the rue Natinale, i give you the ardess: 79 rue de l’hôpital militaire.This is in the gallery quarter.

There is various spaces in l’expo: one for exhibitions, another one for working group and the last one for a librairy. You will enjoy it because it’s welcomming, and you can see works of art fair minded, accessible, contemporary or abstract. The most attractive is that you can take a drink and sit on the enormous sofa! There is a lot variety of tee and fruit juice, and you can also take cakes which are made here.

You can participate at the working group when meeting are organised with artists local or of all over the world.

L’Expo is for people passionate, amateur or just curious! The persons who are working here are so kind!!! They take time to explain you what you want to know.

At this moment you will see Youcef Adjadj’s works of art, there are very colourful! Next friday there will be a preview at 8.30 pm about Kosomi “matière et transe”. You can see the way i am talking on myspace.

Enjoy!

Some work of art details about Nouveaux monstres!

« Nouveaux Monstres »

There were something like fiveteen works of art.

One of the most interesting was “Scénocosme”, created by Anais met den Ancxt, a student in design, and Gregory Lasserre, who has a master in multimedia. It’s an interactive garden with musical plants which react to our movement. When we touch one of them, we can heard a little music. There is a different music for each plant.

One strange work of art was “Historical machines”. Bill Vorn, who use robotic, imagined machines like big spiders. The robot can detect your presence and move when your are too near, but you have to respect a distance which is 50 cm, because the machine’s movements are quiet fast and could be dangerous if you stay too nearly.

A creation was specially fun for children. It was created in Suisse by François Chalet, a graphist. Children can take a sit in a monster head to watch cartoons. It’s like if they were themselves the monster. The monster is the one who scare us but, with this work of art, we can see with the monster’s eyes and the frontier between us and him will disappear.

Mia Makila, who participated in Lowbrow Art European movement, paint her demons and nightmares to make them disappear, in a creation named “Lowbrow and horror art“. This one was terrifying. Two models were exposed, it was dark, scary. She created monsters, blood, animal’s head in the top of sticks, earthworms.

I will intent to show you photos of each work of art in another post! Soizic

la Piscine

today I’m back for a new cultural adventure! (ok, ok, I calm down…!) Today it’s the turn of the famous museum in Roubaix called “la Piscine”. I think I’ll soon know all the museums of Lille and its surrounings…Anyway, I had heard this museum was very special and it was worth being visited. That’s why I went to Roubaix by metro (from the “Gare Lille Flandres” station it is approximately 25 minutes long) and discovered a very very out of ordinary place. The entry costs 4,50 euros (I’ve been taken for a ride, if you go to this place, say you are a student in art, it’s free for them…what an unfairness! or go on friday, it’s free for all students. Of course, I went on Saturday…). But my disappointment soon vanished away when I saw the heart of the museum, a beautiful well-lit swimming-pool enclosed in mosaic floorings and parquet, and surrounded by marble statues. It is so uncommon. Just for that the museum is really worth being visited. I began to take some photos of the statues, of the 50 meters long pool and its fountain, when my camera suddenly switched off. Completely PANIC-STRICKEN I ran  after my boyfriend I had involved in my escapade. Indeed I had made him responsible for preparing the camera…and of course of the batteries… and he told me (as if I had not understood…) with a very innocent voice the batteries were out of use…I let you imagine my expression face. Soooooo……..I’m really sorry but I’ve just a few photos which escaped from this real tragedy. ( no, no, don’t be scared, my boyfriend is still alive). Around the hear of the museum, namely the pool, you can discover a lot of small rooms, for example old changing rooms, shower cubicles or long corridors of paintings, sculptures, and all kinds of objects. I’m not writing to you the detail of the artists or of analysis of those works of art, but what I’ll keep in mind. First of all, the atmosphere : when you walk around and visit the place you hear the shouts and laughs of the people who swam in this pool, so it makes you feel as if those people still haunt this place and bring it back to life. Then, I’ll remember Camille Claudel’s “petite chatelaine”, this marble statue that represents the bust of a girl whose face and hairs are sculpted so fine, or some strange collections such as a handbag one. From the most common ones to those that are creation of couturiers. Then, a beautiful collection of indian saris, whose fabrics are really amazing, beautiful colors bordered with gold. I am particularly fond of India, of the great diversity of its cultures, what has made me touched by these costumes. Roubaix is famous for its fabrics and La Piscine highlights this heritage with its astonishing collection of fabrics of cotton, silk, wool…which have been used to dress many women and have made of them fashionable and smart ladies. A piece of furniture has also caught my attention : it’s a commode on which it’s written “TOUCH” : a bit strange in a museum where works of art are surrounded with glass, isn’t it? The principle of this commode is funny and attractive, because you can open its many drawers and touch fabrics, materials inside it. Soft, light, heavy, warm, rough fabrics, what an infinite nomber of possibilities a couturier has to dress and make someone beautiful…! I’ll end my article with Baudelaire, no translation in English, because it sounds so beautiful in French, and I’am afraid I could not write the same in English. why those quotations? they were written on the walls of the museum, like the words of some writers who emphasize their love for Roubaix, their native land, and you can read on the walls of some shower cubicles : just for the beauty of the words :

“Et quand descend le soir au manteau écarlate Tu poses doucement ton corps sur une natte, Où tes rêves flottants sont plein de colibris Et toujours, comme toi, gracieux, fleuris”

Gare saint sauveur

                                                                               

hi everybody!

today let’s go to the exhibition “les nouveaux monstres” in the Gare Saint Sauveur! We had seen a lot of adverts everywhere in the city, and Caroline in a comment on our blog told us to have a look at this mysterious place…So…that’s what we’ve done! Soizic is going to speak more precisely about the activities and the “monsters” we have faced bravely! I just want to tell you my impressions about this strange exhibition. At first, I think we were only one students among a crowd of parents and kids…and felt as if we went to the wrong exhibition. So, we were not alone…A huge afternoon snack had been organized for hundreds of children (it is not an hyperbole, I promise! ), by the way, we discreetly stole a chocolate-filled pastry from the mountain of Viennese breads that were destined to end in those kids’ stomachs… 🙂

anyway, the exhibition may aim at a youngerer public than we were both. But as this fact didn’t dampen our enthousiasm, we penetrated “the monsters’ house”… The Gare Saint Sauveur was plunged in darkness, what emphasized the “futuristic and science fiction side” of the exhibition. I let Soizic write about her own feelings, but I felt quite awkward in this atmosphere. I may be uncool, or old-fashioned, but I have not known how to judge portraits of monsters, hudge spiders made of metal or the picture of a red hanged man who opened his eyes and moved as soon as you come closer to him at their own value… Spiders reminds me of Matrix, you know? But I may have missed the meaningful message of those “works of art”, maybe, maybe, I may have no imagination enough in order to appreciate the spectacle. Finally, icing on the cake, I couldn’t enjoy the architecture of the Gare Saint Sauveur Caroline had sponken about, as it was plunged in darkness. But it was an other way to see this place, it was all the more mysterious because this old place (that has a past) was mixed with science fiction…

 

Today at last I have been exploring the maze of corridors in the “Palais des Beaux Arts” of Lille. In a previous comment, Britany had ironically forewarned me that I had to discover this museum by myself…that’s what I’ve done! Well, what could I say about it…?I think that what I enjoyed the most is the mixture of a modern architecture with a more classical one. First of all, you can walk in a central atrium whose walls are painted immaculate white : even if the style is quite roman (with the surroundings columns, as it is suggested by the word “atrium”, the design of the place is modern, the immaculate white colour of the walls make the center of the museum vast, huge, it makes you feel calmed down. All the more that today I seemt to be the only one who had decided to visit this beautiful Palais des Beaux Arts, that is why I had  space enough to enjoy  the serenity of  the place very quietly. Besides this “room” you can admire collections dated from the Middle Ages, the Renaissance in huge arched corridors made of the red typical bricks. You feel like beeing in a cave or in a cellar, and lighting effects alternate dark corners which emphasize the mystery of the place, and light halos that underline the bright  red, blue and gold colours of the religious paintings that were made in Holland during the Middle Ages. the decor, the surroundings of the collections are beautiful, and each collection has its own “atmosphere”, I mean, lighting effects make you feel different in each room. For example, the Dutch paintings are exposed on made of warm red walls, whereas huge towns’ models are surrounded by glass, are showed in a dark atmosphere, you walk arround those models in the dark, only a weak light set off them, what is quite unsettling and mysterious, you have the feeling that those miniature towns are like ghosts from the past. Sculptures, paintings, ceramics, models, these works of art are varied. A lot of ages have the place of honour. I have not been sensitive to all of them, and to all works of art, but I wanted to show you the ones I enjoyed, and among them two marble statues whose features are so fine and mild that I have been “cut to the quick”! After wandering and covering a distance of several miles of Dutch and Spanish (indeed, remember that Flanders have been occupied by the Spanish for a long time) paintings , you can at last have a well-deserved rest and spend time in the restaurant or the bar of the museum. I have not tested them, but I would have needed it, after spending three hours looking at paintings that show the Crucifixion, the blesses Virgin Mary, or St Catherine’s martyr. Indeed, most of the works of art are religious. Among the most famous painters, Rubens, David, Boilly, Delacroix, Bruegel, Goya, Veronese, Tintoret…on the scupture side, Camille Claudel. I am not particularly passionately fond of the Dutch Painting of the XVth or XVIth centuries, neither am I of china, but what I enjoyed the most in this Palais is the atmosphere, the decor that surrounds the works of art : this is the first reason I could give you in order to encourage you to go to there in case you have never been there. the museum is worth visiting. Of course, this opinion is subjective…

now that this visit which was a “must” is over, I’ll see you for the next one!!

Soizic and Agathe from the group 2 are pleased to welcome you on this blog…We are going to go looking for different cultural events, we mean, continuous or temporary exhibitions, previewed films, plays… and are going to try to give you some “tracks”, some comments about events which occur in lille or in its surroundings and we have heard about, or we have tested, and we have enjoyed. Without a moment’s hesitation you can make us aware of your personnal likes and dislikes what cultural events concerns, and of events you have heard about.

Even if we don’t have enough time in order to benefit from all the cultural opportunities which are offered to us, sometimes it is the chance of breaking away from our “beloved books” and of relaxing for one or two hours, and of combining business and pleasure! we don’t intend to “teach” you that culture doesn’t mean only old “austere” museums of classical art, but this blog is an illustration of the cultural diversity.

this blog will also be subjective, because it will enlight our personnal experiences. But if you have loved something we haven’t enjoyed, or the opposite of it, say it on the blog!

we know we have just said that cultural events were not only classical museums, but our first jaunt may be to the “Palais des Beaux Arts” of Lille, because none of us is from Lille and know this Palais. For us and for the students who are in the same case, this museum represents “the must”, you can’t get away from it. But for those who already know it, don’t be afraid, we will later focus on moderner exhibitions or on cinema, theater…indeed we are going to test for you 4 or 5 cultural events, whatever they are, maybe more, and also write about events we have heard about and which are likely to please you.

Have a nice “visit” on our blog!

Welcome everybody! Here is our page about exhibitions in Lille. That is to say about nice events you can enjoy in this city!