The pitch is smaller, but the atmosphere is the same. There are cabins all over the place, bales of hay piled up in a corner, these goats which turn up as soon as we approach, hoping to get something to eat, and above all this unlocked door which allows all the kids in the neighborhood to come and go to the Malassis sheepfold, like these two children who came to say hello to Gilles Amar this Thursday noon.
The shepherd spends his first summer in his new sheepfold, located rue Auguste-Blanqui, just a few dozen meters from the one he created in 2011 in the heart of Malassis in Bagnolet (Seine-Saint-Denis), a priority district of city policy.
Last October, after a long negotiation with the town hall, this 40-year-old had to move to free up his land to allow the reconstruction and expansion of the Pêche d’Or nursery school. Now, there are only thirteen goats living in his sheepfold, compared to thirty before. The others have found refuge, for lack of space, in Normandy or near Chelles (Seine-et-Marne).
“We were forced to move, but we are well established, believes Gilles Amar. We moved to rebuild the sheepfold. Our association Sors de terre continues its activities in the district, we are developing. We maintain land in the town, at Courtillières in Pantin, where we do grazing. We should soon be working with the town of Bobigny”.
For the moment, the sheepfold keeps its tranquility. Work on the school, which the town hall hoped to open in September 2024, has still not started. The old ground is not yet concreted. In front of its entrance gate, the association has put a sign indicating that the sheepfold is in “exile” a few meters away. At the end of the construction site, it is supposed to settle on a plot of 1,500 m² located next to the school. A public square of 1,000 m² is also planned in the program.
A piece on the “suburbia”, “a bubble of pure air in the smell of pee”
Gilles Amar, he still hopes to be able to recover this last plot. “The inhabitants have everything to gain from having a large sheepfold of 2,500 m² rather than a small park and a smaller sheepfold, he believes. But the work on the school hasn’t started, so all that seems a long way off to us at the moment. We prefer to stay focused on what we have today. After the trauma we experienced, people are happy that we are here. What we want is to continue to create links in the neighborhood. We would also like to become a real recognized cultural place. »
Concerts are regularly organized at the sheepfold. The next one is scheduled for August 30. Gilles Amar will perhaps have the opportunity to push the song there, he who has just written a rap with his friend Abdel le Magnifique and DJ SOAP, an artist from Bagnolet.
He talks about his daily life – “When I take the herd out, adrenaline rush” -, talks about Zaza his “best friend”. “At the sheepfold, it’s not always rosy, there are days when it’s classy, days when I explode, days when it shits, days when it’s blooming, but don’t mess with our suburbs”, he intones. The shepherd continues: “Here, the stars are boxers, wrestlers, rappers, well, I’m a breeder (…) To those who wonder what a suburb is, it’s a cushy place where don’t look for trouble, a bubble of fresh air in the smell of pee. »
“I wanted to write a book on the suburbs but I didn’t have time, so I mentioned it in this rap while waiting, smiles Gilles Amar. I’ve always listened to rap. I love that. We wrote this song in one night, but it won’t be the last. “In the meantime, he invites all the inhabitants to come and discover his new premises, where as his song says, “people know that in case of trouble, there’s always a smile, a goat, a glass of whiskey, our fantasy “.
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