Montpellier enlighted: Fête des Lumières, December 2014

It was quite a nice idea, to organize in Montpellier a "Fête des Lumières" - a Lights' Day.

Slightly fashionable: the original Fête des Lumières attracts thousands of visitors to Lyon each year.

Slightly risky: it could have rained... and locals don't go out when it rains, unlike the inhabitants (and tourists) of Lyon.

The Chambre du Commerce et de l'Industrie and the shop owners of the historical center had a nice idea, selected good artists, and were lucky with the weather.

The conceptors greatly played on the architecture and details of the tree enlightened buildings - the Prefecture and two churches.

The historical and the terraces of the cafés were crowdy.

The shops kept open late enough... but personnally, I was fed up of people after a few shows.

Following: my photographies, and 3 videos found on youtube.

The most appreciated show for children was certainly the Fabulous Lutin's Show

(fabulous leprechaun's show),

on the Prefecture.

See the links to videos...

VIDEO:

Another nice show, on the Eglise Saint-Roch - a church devoted to the most important saint of Montpellier, on the road of Santiago de Compostela.

It was based on religious paintings, and also gave a new dimension to the architecture...

VIDEO:

We didn't see the last one, on the Eglise Saint-Denis...

But here is a video...

The 16th Briscarts

For the sixteenth time in about ten years, some local artists opened the doors of their workshops. The event is organized twice a year by the association of the Briscarts and usually lasts an evening (with a collective exhibition) and two days (Saturday-Sunday). Thirty-seven artists participated to the even this November's event. Bocaj and Seb. M didn't (first time for long). Bernard Lecointre has a too small and narrow place, people might break or leave with some of his works and he certainly doesn't need thieves nor vandals, his great ingenuity is limitated to artistical creation, he needs buyers...

I have written more specifically, and will write, about local artists. You are warmly invited to explore this blog! 

Enclos Tissié Sarrus

The opening exhibition, on Friday evening in the Salle Saint-Ravy, invites people to discover the universe of every artist through one selected work. One work is not enough in most of the cases, but it allows the visitors to  make a personal selection and plan their visit. It would be to stay in an artistically dense part of the city and ignore everything else, or to choose where to go following the colors of the doors. The amateurs wouldn't spot the professionnal and/or most interesting artists in this heterogeneous gathering. Tourists wouldn't find the lovely Atelier du singe vert (Nathalie Le Gall), hiding in a lovely private street, and they would miss a good exhibition.

Visitors would aim at the double addresses, and expect to dive everywhere in a bourgeois 19th century, as at the 34, rue Saint-Guilhem.

Monica Jacquin

Monica Jacquin

Christian Cabanes

Christian Cabanes

Christian Cabanes

Gisèle Cazilhac

Visitors might search Gisèle Cazilhac, if they know her from her collaborations (la Cabane Trempée...), posters for festivals, long presence in the place, or find her place unpurposedly: there is another opened studio in the same street, better advertised (posters, website, large glass door), while her place looks from outside like a garage. It would be a shame.

Fortunately, she has a "gallery": Mica, 36 rue Saint-Guilhem. This tiny shop, often only opened in the afternoon, sells local cheap and good art. Mica presents... Mica (pins, serigraphy, etc.), and for example Bertrand Lecointre, François Bouët, Gisèle Cazilhac. Modest arts? There is nothing naive there. Real personalities, real skills.

Joan Beall

Mica promotes artists who on their turn help pals. François Bouët invited Joan Beall, engraver working in the village of Octon, to share his workplace for an exhibition. They both promote engravers exhibitions...

François Bouët

For more classical tastes and color-lovers, the studio of Raphaël Ségura is rich enough... Former art teacher, M. Ségura paints, draws, illustrates books of poetry.

We missed time to visit the studios of the painters Christophe Aichelmann, Isabelle Marsala, Anne Jean-Joseph or the photographer Sylvie Huet (Débit de Beau... promoted, as for her, by the charming hostesses of Cubik): next time!

It would be quite nice also if Frédérique Dupuis could take part. No?

De fanfare en fanfare

One of the big events of the month of June is the brassbands festival. The 19th festival was organized on the 13th-14th on the watchwords "Bouge tes hAnches": Move your hips (hanches)/reeds (anches). Can one call "festival" a one-day event? Following wikipédia (french version), no. Funny... our friend Wiki explains that the France adopted in the first part of the 19th C. the word "festival"... it came from England, but England had received it from the ancient french. To say the truth, of course, it came from latin (festivus: joyful). Yet, let's admit it: the english language received MANY french words and received latin mainly through french people. It is extremely shocking that the Wikipedia page on the influence of french language on english language only exists in... french. England has been a french fief during several centuries and owes its "independance" to a french princess (the french she-wolf) married to an english king, who might have commanded the assassination of her husband but wanted her son to reign on both territories, as the heir of his grandfather (Philipp the Handsome of Philipp the Counterfeiter). We lost the art of nicknaming.

The french page is here.

For lazy people: custard, butler, custom, heir, mariage, summon, parliament, chef, franchise, cater, pay, purchase, rental, debt, affair, bargain, aunt, chamber, curtain, blanket, chair, cushion, towel, closet, pantry, bacon, cabbage, toast, crust, stew, grape, cattle, cauldron, carott, atire, gown, restaurant, petticoat, luxe, catch, canvas, proud, foreign, very, solace, scorn, grief, guile, kennel, faint, eager, challenge, change, chapel, choice, mischief, achieve...

Back to the point...

Our brassband festival, following the years, lasted 2 or 3 days, but Friday is a kind of rehearsal, and on Sunday (when there is a Sunday), most musicians and listeners take care of their hangover in bed, or of their suntan on the beach. The big moment is Satursday evening. The bands start to play here and there, or present themselves successively, for a familial audience; but on the evening cars are banned from the streets, temporary bars and first-aid posts appear, people drink beer, wine AND pastis, and each band plays 4 hours... It is festive but ends sadly, as most of the real parties.

The bands are great.

Two local bands (the Kadors and the Fanfare Bakchish), and a band from Lyon (Pustule), are here from festival to festival, perfect models for the youngests - but Les Muses tanguent and several others are also well-trained. Amongst the young guests, there always are some students getting  badly drunk before the big evening, and some innovative artists - as the Express brass band (Munich) this year. Each band has a dress-code, as well as the organizers (mostly smiling, retired mustache bearers this year as far as I saw), the waiters and waitresses. It is very funny and sympathical, as far as you aren't afraid of the crowd, of the leftists (street art amateurs, teachers, etc.). My parents are afraid of them. I could have spent the night out freely, they kept my sugar-plum far from this deafening music... and I would have been deaf to their blames. I'm stupidly honest and good-willing.