Cultural action
The term “cultural action” is used to describe projects made to create links between people, artists and works of art. Cultural action brings together many different projects. Examples include:
- art workshops
- discussion sessions
- meetings with artists…
At Latitudes Contemporaines, cultural action is very important. Latitudes Contemporaines wants everyone to be able to enjoy an artistic experience, discover shows and express themselves using art. So, every year, Latitudes Contemporaines organises projects with different people and places, for example :
- schools
- secondary schools
- associations
- social centres
- medical and educational institutes…
This page explains the cultural activities of Latitudes Contemporaines.
Note on plain language
To make our cultural actions accessible to as many people as possible, our texts are written in plain or simplified language.
DURING THE FESTIVAL
The Latitudes Contemporaines festival takes place in June in Lille and the surrounding towns. During the festival, the Latitudes Contemporaines team organises projects with the public.
→ Do you work for a school, social centre, association or works council? Would you like to organise your visit to the festival in June?
If so, please contact Fayçal Badra, who will be delighted to help you.
Here is his email address: faycal@latitudescontemporaines.com
Examples of cultural action projects carried out at the festival :
TO DISCOVER
The Latitudes Contemporaines team offers tours of the festival adapted to different audiences. Groups come to discover the festival and see shows they have chosen.
Groups can be, for example :
- schoolchildren
- people supported by a social centre
- people supported by an association, etc.
The Latitudes Contemporaines team also welcomes people to discover the festival team’s jobs and activities for a few days.
TO PARTICIPATE
Together with artists from the festival, the Latitudes Contemporaines team offers artistic workshops. The workshops are different every year. Sometimes the participants create a performance at the end. Sometimes the workshops are open to everyone, and sometimes they are for a specific audience (children, groups, etc.).
IN 2024 : OPEN CALL FOR THE PERFORMANCE “SPARKS”
For the show “Sparks”, artist Francesca Grilli researches 15 children aged 9 to 12 years old.
The children will take part in several workshops led by Francesca Grilli. During the workshops, the children will learn creative writing and how to read their handwriting.
The workshops will take place in Lille on the following dates:
- Saturday 8 and Sunday 9 June from 10am to 5pm at the Maison des Associations, Lille
- Monday 10 June from 5pm to 7pm at the Médiathèque Jean Levy, Lille
- Wednesday 12 June from 3pm to 7pm at the Médiathèque Jean Levy, Lille
- and Thursday 13 June from 4pm to 6.30pm at the Médiathèque Jean Levy, Lille
A rehearsal of the performance will take place on Thursday 13 June at 6.30pm, followed by two days of performances by the children on Friday 14 and Saturday 15 June at the Médiathèque Jean Levy in Lille. To take part or for more information, please write to Léa Garcia :
lea@latitudescontemporaines.com
TO CREATE
A COLLECTIVE CREATION WITH NADIA GHADANFAR AND THE TEENAGERS ACCOMPANIED BY ALEFPA
Each year, a group of young people supported by ALEFPA (Association Laïque pour l’Éducation, la Formation, la Prévention et l’Autonomie) create a show with an artist. The show is performed at the opening of the festival. In 2024, director Nadia Ghadanfar is creating the show with the teenagers. Their creation can be seen on 7 June at Le Grand Sud.
With the patronage support of the Fondation de France
TO RAISE AWARENESS
The festival’s shows often deal with important current affairs. Sometimes it’s important to be able to talk about them after the shows. During the festival, the Latitudes Contemporaines team organises times to talk about these subjects. Artists and audiences are invited to talk together. Sometimes other people are also invited to take part: for example, specialists in the subject, associations, etc.
This year, there will be a round table discussion on gender equality in culture. It takes place on 18 June at GRAND SUD, Lille, at 6pm.
TO TALK TOGETHER
During the festival, the Latitudes Contemporaines team organises discussions about the shows. With the team from the dance journal Les Démêlées, we meet in small groups after certain shows to discuss them. Sometimes it’s the artists who come and meet the audience after the show. These moments of exchange help to forge links between people.
This year, the exchanges with Les Démêlées will take place on 20 June after Filles-Pétroles at the Théâtre de l’Oiseau-Mouche and on 25 June after Anda, Diana at the Maison Folie Wazemmes.
ALL YEAR LONG
Throughout the year, Latitudes Contemporaines creates cultural action projects in the regions. Each year, the projects are different. Each project involves an artist and a partner organisation.
A partner organisation could be, for example :
- a school
- a social centre
- an association
- a home for the elderly…
Léa Garcia manages these projects as part of the Latitudes Contemporaines team.
Here is her e-mail address:
lea@latitudescontemporaines.com
CURRENTLY:
WITH ALI MOINI :
Ali Moini is a choreographer. This means that he puts on dance shows. In his dance, he plays with what can prevent movement. At the end of 2023, he held dance workshops with elderly people. During the workshops, the people danced, paying attention to what their bodies could do. Ali Moini did the workshops with people from the Van Gogh residence in Croix. This residence is run by the ALEFPA association (Association Laïque pour l’Education, la Formation, la Prévention et l’Autonomie).
Ali Moini is a choreographer, but he also works with musicians. For one of his shows, he invented musical instruments with a musician. These instruments make sounds when you hold them in your arms. Ali Moini has set up workshops to use these instruments with people with disabilities. To create these workshops, Latitudes Contemporaines and the association Signes de Sens organised a day to reflect on universal musical practice. In 2024, he ran several workshops with children from the Institut Médico-Éducatif La Pépinière in Loos.
FOR 15 YEARS, IN COLLABORATION WITH ALEFPA:
Since 2009, Latitudes Contemporaines has been working with ALEFPA to help young people in need of support. This collaboration is designed to help young people find their place in society, at school and in their future careers.
There are three parts in this collaboration:
- Each year, before the festival, Latitudes Contemporaines invites a group of young people to take part in artistic workshops led by an artist. The young people reflect on and create a show together with the artist. Their show is presented at the start of the festival.
- During the festival, another group of young people learn about the jobs of the people who organise the festival. The young people discover the different jobs by taking part. They help set up the stages, cook the meals and welcome the artists and the public. It’s a great opportunity to learn about the cultural professions.
- During the festival, several groups of young people go to see shows at the festival. The Latitudes Contemporaines team accompanies them. The groups discover the shows together and discuss them with the festival team.
An event and a documentary to celebrate 10 years of collaboration
In 2019, Latitudes Contemporaines celebrated the 10th anniversary of its collaboration with ALEFPA. To mark the occasion, a documentary was made by Lille-based video-makers the Collectif des Routes. The documentary shows several moments from the festival. The documentary also features interviews with a number of people who took part in the project. We see young people who have grown up and remember the workshops and the festival.
A FEW PAST PROJECTS
MACHO MAN
In 2021, Latitudes Contemporaines presented MACHO MAN, a documentary theatre project by Spanish company Heartbreak Hotel. MACHO MAN is about violence against women. As the subjects of MACHO MAN could provoke pain, fear or anger, associations were present after the show. With the associations, the Latitudes Contemporaines team set up a resource area. This is a place where you can find information on violence against women and how to combat it.
We have also created this resource area on a web page: it is available here in French.
More info on MACHO MAN and its partners in Lille and Arras here.
TIGHT, A COLLECTIVE CREATION WITH STUDENTS FROM THE LYCÉE SONIA DELAUNAY IN LOMME
In 2023, pupils at the Lycée Sonia Delaunay took part in several artistic workshops on hip-hop culture and costume design. The Lycée Sonia Delaunay is a secondary school in the town of Lomme where students can learn the fashion and textile trades. The workshops were led by three artists:
- Solen Athanassopoulos, a choreographer and dancer
- Marion François, a costume designer
- AL20, a singer, rapper and musician
Together, they presented the show TIGHT to an audience at the lycée on Thursday 13 April.
Partners:
– Lycée Sonia Delaunay, Lomme
This project was financed by the Région Hauts-de-France.
A LOOK BACK AT PAST EDITIONS OF THE FESTIVAL
