Latitudes Contemporaines: the project
Created in 2003, Latitudes Contemporaines has become a reference in contemporary creation by accompanying and programming new artistic creations.
On the lookout for the evolution of artistic forms, Latitudes Contemporaines strategically articulates an annual festival annuel and a production office with a cultural engineering and European cooperation policy.
The festival
An International Festival focused on the contemporary scene
Founded in 2003 in northern France, (now called the Hauts de France region), the Association Latitudes Contemporaines created a festival which focuses on new forms of live performance, in which the body is a primary component. Since its creation, the Festival has characterized itself as an open space for artistic approaches committed to aesthetic, sensitive and/or relational research with its audiences. Key words which apply to the Latitudes Contemporaines Festival are: experience, curiosity, trans-discipline, critical diversity and creativity, and it is considered an excellent place for cultural encounters in tune with the times, targeting a complex, dense multi‑bordered region.
The Festival offers an intense program spanning three weeks in June, including metropolitan Lille, as well as Courtrai and Condette (Château d’Hardelot). It offers a shared space for artistic speech, open to multiple definition but with no restrictions as to form, with a common interest in exchange, featuring all that has meaning and uniqueness in the reality of the 21st century. Latitudes Contemporaines is a living witness to our time, focusing on the most important questions including the definition of art, the body’s place in society, and sensitively examining the role of the individual as both spectator and creator, identity and the discourse which drives us.
Latitudes Contemporaines seeks to be a quality, inclusive scene festival, where everybody can experience an artistic coup de foudre. The festival is opened to large audiences, on the territory of the Eurometropolis Lille–Kortrijk–Tournai and beyond. Through its international dimension, the festival wishes to encourage intercultural dialogue and collective reflexion. Each year, the programmation tackles a committed theme, and develops mediation projects with different audiences. The festival is an open window for today’s social and political interrogations, but also a meeting space, and a festive moment!
• Enlighten our territory by presenting an audacious, international programmation, open to emerging and confirmed artists
• Present art works which represent and question our times
• Develop tools and innovating mediation processes to facilitate the encounter between artists and audiences
Latitudes Prod.
The production office – a tool which serves contemporary creation
Throughout the year as well as during the Festival, the staff at Latitudes Contemporaines accompanies and develops projects led by several artists, on an ongoing and long-term basis. Using its international network and the considerable skills of its team, it is an excellent and expert resource, supporting and accompanying a number of artists and their work. The staff is involved in administration, production direction, other aspects of production, touring and communication, but also the cultural engineering of artistic projects. We also counsel artists and their teams in the implementation of developmental strategy.
International cooperation
European projects and cultural engineering
Latitudes Contemporaines’ horizons extend well beyond its geographical, political or economic frontiers. As a player in European development, the association participates in European projects and drives others. Latitudes Contemporaines is also a work space for the development of cultural and artistic projects, which professional artists may use for the creation, development or continuation of their projects.
