The festivities consecrating Villeurbanne (Rhône), the first French capital of culture for 2022, began on Friday, January 7 in the evening near Lyon, despite health restrictions.
“Here, culture is not and has never been a policy like any other. She has always kept at a distance all forms of regressions, impoverishment, shrinking of thought ”, declared, in his inaugural speech, Cédric Van Styvendael, the mayor of the city (Socialist Party).
At his side, on the forecourt of the famous National Popular Theater, the Minister of Culture, Roselyne Bachelot, praised a cultural life “Extremely intense in the territories”. “When I arrived at the Ministry of Culture, I said that I was going to be the Minister of Artists and Territories. Here, I make this commitment a reality ”, she added, briefly interrupted by intermittents from the show.
The opening of this event, which is the first French version of the label of European capitals of culture, symbolically took place in the courtyard of a primary school, in reference to the youthful spirit expressed by the municipality in its candidacy.
New productions by Ariane Mnouchkine and Royal de luxe
The title was awarded to the city by the ministry last spring, following a first preselection including nine – including the agglomeration community of Grand Angoulême, Brest, Laval, Le Mans, Metz, Saint-Paul of Reunion and Sète.
Videos of children projected on buildings, giant red giraffes strolling in a musical parade, explosion of sequins… The inaugural procession, freely mixing officials and the population, left at the beginning of the evening in the direction of the town hall. As the small crowd passed, limited for health reasons, images of children’s faces were projected onto the walls of buildings while their voices were broadcast through loudspeakers. Everything was the result of workshops conducted with artists at Jules-Ferry primary school, as a prelude to the minimixes – a project deployed in various establishments and which consists of transforming libraries and documentation centers into real spaces for art education. and culture.
The program of the event should include 700 events, 200 concerts, 22 heritage trails and 30 festivals, including one entirely composed and organized by a group of one hundred young Villeurbanne aged 12 to 25. Among these shows, new productions from the Théâtre du Soleil by Ariane Mnouchkine and the Royal luxury company.
Another milestone event, the creation of “Largest musical axis in France” to celebrate the 40e anniversary of the Fête de la Musique, June 21: it will be a 6.5 kilometer long route allowing the public to play music between Villeurbanne and Lyon city hall.
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