At the invitation of Fleur Pellerin, Minister of Culture and Communication, the first board of directors of the public institution prefiguring the Médicis Clichy-Montfermeil project was held, rue de Valois, on 22 December 2015.
The Médicis Clichy-Montfermeil (Seine-Saint-Denis) project, initiated and presented by Fleur Pellerin in Clichy-sous-Bois on July 23, 2015, will be the major cultural hub of Greater Paris of culture, which the Prime Minister announced on October 15, 2015. Resolutely focused on youth, diversity and creation, and a true marker of the transformations undertaken by Fleur Pellerin in favor of artistic and cultural emergence, the project carries all the ambitions of the Minister of Culture and Communication for the renewal of a cultural policy in line with its time.
Since the launch of this initiative a few months ago, I have wanted us to move forward in a very rhythmic way. I am pleased to see this ambition find its first concrete accomplishment through the creation of the public prefiguration institution.” said Fleur Pellerin. The actual launch of the institution in charge of the major project thus marks the end of the diagnostic phase, which made it possible to implement the ambitions of the framework programme, the forecast schedule and the prospects for a start-up.
Alongside the representatives of the State, the Mayors of Clichy-sous-Bois, Olivier Klein and Montfermeil, Xavier Lemoine, and Marie-Françoise Reygnaud, elected from the agglomeration community, the board of directors brought together Agnès B, Hortense Archambault, the director of MC93 and Abdelkader Damani, the director of FRAC Centre-Val de Loire as qualified personalities. Thierry Tuot, President of the Académie de France in Rome, has been appointed Chairman of the Board of Directors.
It is a major step of the Medicis project in Clichy-sous-Bois and Montfermeil that is committed since the institution will focus in the coming months to bring the dynamics of the project: development of the cultural and scientific project of the institution, definition of the architectural project of the new equipment, implementation of a cultural program "before the walls".
My ambition for the Médicis project is to be able to quickly welcome, in Clichy-sous-Bois and Montfermeil, twenty teams of internationally renowned artists in residence, as well as cultural entrepreneurs.
It will also be a place of exhibitions and live performances, and a space for training and artistic and cultural education for all,” said Fleur Pellerin, Insisting on the need for the State and local authorities to strengthen their cooperation in order to make live the excellence of culture in all the territories of the Republic, as they do with the Medici-Clichy-Montfermeil project.
Artistic creation and residencies, research, teaching, Training, arts and cultural education thus form the strategic framework of this reference institution whose project will be developed in an innovative and progressive way in connection with the future Grand Paris Express station, which will be located nearby.
Before the demolition of the Utrillo Tower in 2016, an artistic program and cultural actions must be deployed on the site, including the creation of a temporary place, pavilion of the project. These actions will feed the reflection on the project of the Médicis Clichy-Montfermeil establishment and promote the integration of this unique adventure with the territory and the inhabitants of the cities and the agglomeration. In charge of the diagnosis and the management of the project since February 2015 with the Minister of Culture, Olivier Meneux should take the direction of the institution.