‘temple of death’ in Paris re-opens as art hub
Photo by Benjamin Legrain
CENTQUATRE, a former state funeral parlour at 104 rue d’Aubervilliers in north-east Paris will reopen this weekend after being transformed into the city’s most daring modern arts centre. It is the latest attempt to make up for 50 years in which Paris has slipped from a world arts capital to a museum city lacking in dynamism, where exasperated artists live in squats or flee to more vibrant scenes in places such as Berlin.
Photo by Jo
Centquatre will offer cutting-edge workshops, studios and film-sets for artists from all over the world, from directors and sound-sculptors to comic-strip artists and fashion designers. The only pay-off is that they must allow the public to wander through and inspect them at work. Some warn it could become an “artists’ zoo” but others hail a revolution in contemporary cultural workspace.
Go to website CENTQUATRE
Source: The Guardian (October 8, 2008)
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