events
Many of you came to see the exhibitions, and many of you also joined our events. These rich and warm exchanges between artists and the public helped to enrich our relationship with art, promote access to and understanding of contemporary works, and celebrate together this wonderful adventure centered around water.
The opening night
Generously welcomed at the Délirium cultural center, an unusual and baroque venue in the heart of Avignon, the Parcours celebrated the festival's opening night with a rich program of performances and music entitled " Le cabaret de l'eau" (The Water Cabaret ). This was followed by a lively party with mixed and eclectic sounds from DJ Yaguara.
The evening at the heart of the festival
The following weekend, the Jean Vilar House hosted the renowned water theatre company Ilotopie. Thanks to their water distiller, which uses water drawn from natural sources, purified Rhône River water was offered to visitors. To further enhance the experience of discovering the flavors of our region, this unique toast was accompanied by a tasting of local wines. A poetic talk about water and the company's projects then transported visitors into the aquatic magic of this extraordinary theatre.
Finally, a series of 9 original short films, " On the bridge of Avignon we dance, we sing ," associating choreographers and musicians, was screened at the end of the evening, their common thread: to (re)enchant the Pont d'Avignon and the banks of our river.
Theatrical and musical performance
H2O Variations on Tears - Jeanne Bred and the company Nos Humains
A being arrives drenched in tears, which flow freely from every side. One tear follows another, the water rises. It rains. H2O Variations is a hybrid and multidisciplinary performance.
It is a meditation on a state of transition, the place of a new conquest of meaning where the passage through tears is obligatory.
Here we encounter thinking, dreaming, or empirical figures, who are also what constitute this being of water. A monologue in multiple voices that allows us to penetrate the interior of a single consciousness.
Jeanne Bred and the Cie Nos Humains presented an excerpt of the show at the Eglise des Célestins on the occasion of a residency showing at the theatre l'Atelier (La Manutention).
Walking performance
Ghost Train - Exit 23 Company
It's a ghost train, like at a funfair. Book your ticket and let yourself be carried away through the winding streets of Avignon and its monuments... playing at being scared... because the city is haunted. This is the first stage of development for this ambulatory performance where fear lurks.
The creation of this touring performance by Anne-Laure Gofard and Raouf Raïs, in partnership with the Théâtre du Train Bleu, was presented twice during the festival.
Film screenings and discussions
Four films closely related to water were screened during the festival: auteur films by Andrei Tarkovsky and Naomi Kawase at the Utopia cinema, and mainstream films by Luc Besson and James Cameron at the Le Vox cinema. A presentation and discussions were led by film studies students from the preparatory class for the Grandes Écoles (CPGE) at the Lycée Mistral.
human library
Starting class
A tailor-made performance was created by the young people of Classe Départ (a 7-month artistic and civic training program enabling young adults to move towards employment). It offered visitors short theatrical pieces whose themes were drawn at random and which engaged them in a promenade echoing the works presented at the Celestins church.
Videos and virtual reality
For the 29th edition, Bachibouzouk provided virtual reality headsets at the Celestins church to share a unique experience with great artists like Jérôme Bosch and Fabienne Verdier.
In the morning, at the Utopia cinema, Bachibouzouk also offered schoolchildren three films from the series broadcast on Arte "The little secrets of great paintings".
Little Paradise
Photographer Alexandra de Laminne welcomed us to her creative and exhibition space, Petit Paradis, renamed Petit Paradis du Parcours for the occasion. This new public information and welcome area for the Parcours this year featured several artists presenting works related to water. Among them was Alexandra, who presented her photographs from the filming of the series Sur le pont d'Avignon on y danse, on y chante (On the bridge of Avignon, we dance and sing ), the short films of which were being screened at the Maison Jean Vilar.
The Parcours de l'Art commissioned Djipi and B2D2, artists from Avignon, to create a series of screen prints specifically for this 29th edition.
La Forme d'un livre, an independent and general bookstore created by Camille Court in Villeneuve-les-Avignon, offered an eclectic selection of books on the theme of water accompanied by author dedications.
Various guided tours
Guided tours were offered over the weekend by art enthusiasts and volunteers who were happy to share their knowledge, feelings, and the exchanges they had with the artists.
A blindfolded tour was offered to a small group accompanied by three guides. They were able to discover the Celestines church, sometimes touching certain works, sometimes having them described to them, and then discovering them with a new perspective, enriched by a prior immersive and unique experience.
A mediation in the streets of Avignon made it possible to link two exhibition sites and to pass under the frescoes of the Aorte collective glued directly onto the walls of the city.
Tailor-made mediations were created by the young people of Classe Départ (a 7-month artistic and civic training program enabling young adults to move towards employment). They allowed for a virtuous dialogue with young people and children, creating immediacy in exchanges, empathy with the children and increased confidence for the young adults of Classe Départ.
A water trail in Avignon was offered to visitors by the NGO Volubilis, a Euro-Mediterranean network for cities and landscapes, based in Avignon. Volubilis works to foster cultural ties, friendship, and knowledge sharing between people and territories in Europe and the Mediterranean on contemporary urban and landscape issues. This year, Volubilis organized two guided tours through the streets of Avignon to explore the city's little-known water trail.
