At the beginning of this year, the situation changed radically in the Arab world. A new reality has emerged as a result of an extraordinary people’s movement that has revolutionised Tunisia, Egypt and Libya. This is something that would never have been predicted a year ago. Shockwaves from this movement have affected the region and the rest of the globe. These revolutions are already influencing artistic practices and intellectual processes in the entire Arab world, and opening up new perspectives for relations between Europe and the Mediterranean. Above all, it is changing the way Europe perceives the Arab world.
Throughout its entire history, Marseille has been shaped by its port and the attendant circulation of people and goods. Marseille is home both to people who were born here and also to people who have settled in the region: Italians, Armenians, Algerians, Comorians, to name but a few. So the city acts as a gateway to two worlds: Europe and North Africa. It’s hard to think of any other city that is more ideally suited to bringing together Europe and the southern Mediterranean countries.
The Mediterranean was the birthplace of Europe, so in its role as European City of Culture, Marseille is focusing on creating a hub for dialogue and creativity that is open to cultures from the whole Mediterranean region. There is a pressing need to create a space where artists from all disciplines and European and Mediterranean audiences can meet and exchange ideas.
According to European legislation, the decision to name a city as European Capital of Culture is not based solely on what it has to offer, but more particularly on the special plans that it has for the year in question. The twelve-month programme has to meet two main criteria. Firstly, there must be a European dimension: the cities should present the role they have played in European culture, their links with Europe, and their European identity. They must also demonstrate their current involvement in European artistic and cultural life, along with their own specific features. Secondly, the cities have to present a programme that anticipates largescale public involvement at both local and European levels.
Since the 2008 decision to select the Marseille-Provence as the European Capital of Culture for 2013, a programme has been developed in partnership with local, national and international cultural organisations. Marseille already had links to the art scenes on the south and east coasts of the Mediterranean, but in the last few years, cooperation with these countries has increased still further.
There is a pressing need to create a space where artists from all disciplines and European and Mediterranean audiences can meet and exchange ideas.
The Mediterranean focus of the Marseille-Provence 2013 programme is encouraging local organizations to concentrate on cross-Mediterranean projects and cooperation in the run-up to 2013. The need to hold meetings in order to discuss the planning and execution of such projects has led to increased mobility among artists and cultural operators from both the Marseille-Provence region and the southern Mediterranean countries.
Marseille-Provence 2013 and the local authorities are encouraging mobility by supporting the development of projects and providing specific tools. This includes a special mobility fund organised by the Roberto Cimetta Fund.
Various themes have shaped Marseille-Provence 2013’s international programme. The project is multi-disciplinary, covering different artistic fields such as visual arts, dance, theatre, music, circus, film and less-common disciplines such as art in public spaces and cuisine. References to heritage and traditions will be present in the programme’s exhibitions, which provide a historical view of the Mediterranean and cross-Mediterranean relations. The main focus of Marseille-Provence 2013 is contemporary creation, in particular the contemporary art scenes on the southern and eastern coasts of the Mediterranean and in the Arab world.
Euro-Mediterranean Ateliers is one of the key projects that has been set up to support contemporary creation by inviting local, national and, above all, international artists to take part in artist residency programmes in the Marseille-Provence region.
Partnerships and co-productions with foreign cultural organisations have been established to design and implement joint projects. An important focus is to provide artists with commissions or to give them ‘carte blanche’. This includes artwork for contemporary art exhibitions such as Ici, Ailleurs (Here, Elsewhere), music by composers such as Zad Moultaka (Lebanon) and theatrical pieces by directors like Fadhel Jaibi (Tunisia).
Projects are also being developed that will involve the whole Mediterranean region. This includes work by photographers such as Joseph Koudelka and André Mérian, visual arts projects such as Cadavre Exquis (Exquisite Corpse), and French author François Beaune’s literary project True Tales of the Mediterranean. One of the key objectives is to provide the widest possible audience for artistic works.
These Euro-Mediterranean ateliers are central to Marseille-Provence 2013’s European Capital of Culture project. They are designed to support contemporary artistic creation in the Euro-Mediterranean area, build a creative hub involving businesses, public institutions and associations, and incorporate all artistic disciplines.
The ateliers are tailor-made artist’s residencies with a view to encouraging production and dialogue in all creative fields. Around 60 ateliers will be set up in businesses and public bodies between 2010 and 2013. The initiative is designed to become permanent, thus making a lasting contribution to contemporary artistic creation.
As part of this project, Wael Shawky, an Egyptian artist, is currently in Aubagne for a six-month residency to develop his new project, the second episode of Cabaret Crusades, a film featuring ceramic puppets inspired by Amin Maalouf’s book The Crusades through Arab eyes. To make these puppets, he will take part in a four-month residency at a clay training centre where he will work with professionals in the clay figurine industry and Santon (clay nativity figures) makers. The film will then be shot with SATIS, a university department specializing in sound and image. The final product will be presented at the Kunstenfestivaldesarts in Brussels in 2012, then at Documenta in Kassel and finally shown as part of Marseille-Provence 2013.
There are enormous possibilities for renewed engagement with Arab artists.
These changes came at a time when the main aspects of the Marseille-Provence 2013 programme had already been decided (the programme outline was presented at a press conference on 28 February 2011). However, the content had not yet been finalized. The Arab Spring allowed us to reflect on these revolutions and question the relevance of our programme. We have spent and are still spending a lot of time talking to Arab artists and cultural operators about the changing situation and about what is relevant for Marseille-Provence 2013.
By focusing on contemporary creation, Marseille-Provence 2013 has developed a programme in direct partnership with contemporary artists and cultural operators in the Arab world. We have not dealt directly with official bodies. This is because the Arab world’s contemporary art scenes are largely made up of independent venues and artists. Most of these art scenes have been, and are still, involved in the uprisings. These changes will be reflected in the artwork and projects they are preparing for 2013. In addition, although we plan to announce the preprogramme on 12 January 2012, we also plan to maintain some flexibility in order to be able to incorporate new projects and themes. Conference programmes and discussions will be another opportunity to reflect on the latest changes.
These questions were raised with participants at the Informal Meeting held in October 2011. This was a meeting for independent art and culture venues from the Arab world, organised in partnership with the Young Arab Theatre Fund. At this meeting, some participants were critical of the fact that European engagement with the Arab spring topic has a tendency to be a flash-in-the-pan. In other words, cultural organizations tend to plan one-off events with Arab operators, rather than working on long-term partnerships.
In the meantime, many Arab organisations feel that it is too soon to draw generalised conclusions from this period because of the ever-changing and unpredictable nature of the Arab spring movements. While there are enormous possibilities for renewed engagement with Arab artists, they fear the focus will simply shift from one set of clichés and expectations to another.
Marseille-Provence 2013 will begin in little more than a year. This is a very short period when it comes to organising such a large event. However, it is a very long period when we consider all that might change in the next twelve months. Consequently, it is essential for Marseille-Provence 2013 to be present in the Arab world by exchanging with artists, intellectuals, and organisations, by listening to their needs and providing flexible solutions for contemporary artistic creation.
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