Located in a former college provided by the City of Pantin, Artagon Pantin is a place of accompaniment for artists and cultural professionals at the beginning of the journey mainly focused on visual arts. It offers its 50 resident artists shared workshops and offices, as well as spaces for production, experimentation, meeting and programming. Many trainings are also offered to them as well as to all outside people wishing to benefit from them. Anchored in the heart of the Quatre-Chemins district, Artagon Pantin carries actions that resonate directly with the territory and its inhabitants.
Writing workshops draw on the life stories of elders
Workshops for the Cultural Summer© Julie Mitchell
With the association "Pas si loin", strongly involved in the neighborhood, and the autrice-director Éva Anna Maréchal, currently in residence in Artagon Pantin, two workshops were carried out as part of the Cultural Summer, with the support of the DRAC Île-de-France. The first event, which took place from 3 to 7 July, brought together a group of seniors attending the "Not so far away" meeting space during four two-hour sessions. Then, from 10 to 12 July, three other one-hour workshops were carried out with the EHPAD "La Seigneurie", also located in Pantin.
For Jeanne Turpault, Head of Artagon Pantin:"The idea was to get people talking during the workshops about their daily life, their relationship to the neighbourhood, their lifestyle, their relationship to art, culture, and with all this, produce a collective story."
In dialogue with Éva Anna Maréchal, it is the story of the daily life of the inhabitants of the Quatre-Chemins district that has assembled, composing the memory of those who made the soul of Pantin.
Eva Anna Marechal © Julie Mitchell
The workshops will be restored by the production of an edition entirely made by Éva Anna Maréchal and which brings together the texts of the participants, but also drawings, images and other surprises to be discovered during the public restitution scheduled on September 23 as part of the Four Paths neighborhood party.
Artagon Pantin, an actor of the (re)liaison
Artagon Pantin is not only a place of reception and work and bearers of cultural projects for artists. It is also open to local structures, especially associations, and a liaison space that unites the actors involved in the territory. This is why several spaces have been planned inside this former 4,500 m² college: these spaces are managed by local actors. Among them, "Not so far" took over the management of the canteen and offers a restoration at solidarity price. By making the choice to welcome them, Artagon Pantin opens up to the public of these associations and brews people who usually do not mix together.
"The first motivation for us, admits Jeanne Turpault, was to say, how do you collaborate with actors? whose actions have a real daily impact on the lives of people in the city."
Jeanne Turpault, Head of Artagon Pantin © Dr Artagon Pantin
Thanks to the Cultural Summer, Artagon can remain open in July-August, creating social ties and sharing around artistic experiences with the inhabitants who do not go on holiday, and with the elderly of the EHPAD la Seigneurie.
A place of emergence in touch with contemporary issues
For Artagon Pantin, working with young creation is necessary: he accompanies and trains artists who will then be exhibited in museums, art centers and other places of monstration. This positioning for emergence is largely based on the wealth and diversity of team members: "In Artagon, there is a diversity of profiles and a plurality of voices that express and embody each of the problems of different existences, thus equally multiple ways of approaching societal questions. This keeps us in a state of awakening in relation to the great subjects of our time. The voices of the people we welcome are exactly where these subjects are revealed. From a social, political point of view it’s very interesting. But also from a formal point of view."
ATRIUMBAS © Clemency Compete
The commitment is cultural and social, but it is also ecological. According to Jeanne Turpault:As an organisation, the internal will and environmental awareness of the place is strong. There is the human and social ecological environmental issue - which corresponds to the ecosystem in general of Artagon Pantin - and there is the question more focused on the eco-responsibility related to the protection of the environment and life, other species as a rule. We are very attentive to both".
Façade, Artagon Pantin © Clémence Rivalier
Artagon Pantin is attentive to recovery and re-employment while promoting inter-competence. Residents help each other, for example by using materials recovery systems. In this spirit, Artagon works with several structures within the framework of partnerships: this is for example the case of the 19M, a structure that hosts all the production workshops of Chanel. Artagon has set up a recovery system in order to have access to the fabric scraps from this luxury production workshop in order to avoid them being thrown away. They are recovered and used for other projects.
"Aimer Manger" exhibition on September 23 in Artagon Pantin © Laura Lafon
The structure also tends to make an eco-responsible transition in its operation. To do this, a team training, a re-equipment and a redevelopment of the place are being built, in order to make it more ecological and reduce its consumption. Training for residents will also be provided. Their objective is to train them in environmentally responsible actions to take when they are artists or promoters of cultural projects. Trainings that integrate questions of the packaging of works, transport, exchanges between places and partners, etc. Through all these actions, Artagon creates consonant, innovative and promising systems.
*Header image: ATRIUM © Clémence Rivalier
Partager la page