In Montpellier (Hérault), we thought the Zat (Temporary artistic areas) to oblivion. Well no. Stopped since a somewhat special 13th edition, in 2019, which had taken over the whole city for several weeks, the artistic event will make its big comeback next fall. On November 11, 12 and 13, the Zat, which each time brings together tens of thousands of curious people, will rise from its ashes, in the Antigone district. Where the 1st edition took place, in 2010.
The principle remains the same: for three days, artistic performances, shows and ephemeral installations will be offered free of charge to visitors in the streets or in emblematic buildings of the district. “It will be an opportunity to celebrate Antigone”, which emerged from the ground forty years ago, notes the mayor, Michaël Delafosse (PS). And to pay tribute to the person who designed this district, drawing inspiration from the architecture of ancient Greece, Ricardo Bofill, who died on January 14th.
“Keep the historical DNA of the Zat”
It is Pascal Lebrun-Cordier, who was the original programmer of the event, who takes over the reins of the Zat. For the past few weeks, this arts teacher and public space specialist has been busy, in the greatest secrecy, with the construction of the new edition. “We are going to keep the historical DNA of the Zat, he confides. Activate the public space into a space of freedom, expression, poetry, hospitality, experiences, via a multidisciplinary artistic program, which resonates with the context”, of the district. However, Pascal Le Brun Cordier wishes to boost the “festive” and “civic” dimension of the event. And lower your carbon footprint.
New, the Zat will now be accompanied, all year round, by a vast urban planning project, which aims to reinvent the public space: Trans/Zat. Thus, from the month of September, after meticulous surveys in the districts, will be set up, in a sustainable way, different public spaces, even unusual, halfway between art and urban planning. Unusual paths, quirky street furniture, surprising fountains, bizarre playgrounds or sports fields, etc.
With the Trans/Zat project, for Pascal Le Brun Cordier, it is a question of imagining a “cultural urban planning”, which makes it possible to respond to “the hospitality of the public space” and to “make the neighborhoods more desirable “. It was also the idea of the Zat, when it set up its barnum at Mosson, Grisettes, Près-d’Arènes or Celleneuve.