1/ Overview: Attacafa, Universal Nomadic Stage

Founded in 1984, Attacafa is an activist association with multiple, complementary skills.

It consists of a small nucleus of employees at the centre of a constellation of freelance photographers, visual artists, graphic designers, musicians, authors, actors, stage directors, cooks, lecturers, engineers, RMI (minimum wage) beneficiaries, temporary workers, volunteers… united in their desire to work in common cause.

Attacafa aims to promote the spread of a universal culture, founded not on uniformity but on the notion of an enduring and mutually enriching diversity.

We want to fight fear and prejudice by bringing people together — to consider World Cultures as a key to learning about those different from us and about respect for diversity. We want to take part in the struggle for better understanding and openness to the world. Attacafa tests, blazes new trails and opens up new channels of reflection. It is about listening, confronting and creating new modes of communication, of cultural translation and of solidarity among individuals, neighbourhoods and cities, as well as between North and South and even between the [European] Union and the countries that have a role to play in a new Europe.

2/ Philosophy and objectives

“As in other years, our indoor programming will take place with our regular partners".

By using spaces as different from one another as the Scènes nationales (national public theatres) or the mediatèques (multimedia centres) we are also working to diversify our audiences”.

“Our thrust is to allow everyone access to the publicly supported cultural spaces, to claim the right of traditional and contemporary world cultures to be in those places, as well as to encourage the [traditional] audiences for public theatres to follow us into much less conventional spaces. It is to bring people together, and point the way to new theatre-going experiences and new habits of cultural “consumption”".

“We go beyond the role of mere programmer by supplementing the musical program with other discoveries from many artistic fields. We prompt genuine reflection on musical and cultural authenticity, as well as intercultural dialogue. Our programs go beyond theatres, spilling over into the streets, schools, and living spaces of the larger metropolitan area”.

“Attacafa is a universal nomadic stage that “sows” performances throughout the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region in an effort to reach a wider public — one curious about those who are different. Twenty-three years of experience has enabled us to know our audience, and we know it varies according to two criteria: the performance location and the cultural tradition that is showcased. Working with community associations allows us to rally citizens of different nationalities”.

“Combining these two criteria enables us once again to orchestrate intercultural exchange: having a community audience, sometimes a marginalized one, come to places such as the Opéra or the Rose des Vents; taking advantage of the “subscription effect” in certain institutions to introduce audiences to a tradition and a culture they would not have otherwise discovered; and having audiences from various socio-professional categories mingle with those of different backgrounds in the same locale”.

La Louche d’Or, S.O.U.P.E international festival

“La Louche d’Or (The Golden Ladle) is an intercultural project whose object is to consolidate energies in a given area and put them in touch with initiatives in other places. Through year-round planning it aims to promote the discovery, encounter with and transfer of expertise, on the underlying theme of S.O.U.P.E (which stands for ‘Symbol of the Openness and Union of European Peoples’, or ‘soup’, a play on words connoting ‘the only dish common to every continent’)”.

"Designed to build bridges between individuals within a neighbourhood and between the neighbourhoods of Lille themselves, exchanges are organized both in and outside the area. They are punctuated by a humorous and symbolic S.O.U.P.E competition on May 1st: La Louche d’Or”.

“It is a matter of promoting all cultures, giving visibility and recognition to each, thanks to new ways of prompting exchange and discovery through active participation”.

“All five continents are highlighted through their culinary and musical delights”.

“The diversity of players involved in the project is largely responsible for its success”.

3/ Events in 2008

3.1 Nomadic program

• Attacafa / universal nomadic stage

• Indoor program with regular partners: la Rose des Vent (Villeneuve D’Ascq) Opéra de Lille

• Objectives: to promote and highlight world cultures and sensitise the public so that performances can be seen and understood by diverse audiences

3.2 Lille South – work with residents (since 2001)

• Work directed at Lille’s southern area residents

• Work in partnership with neighbourhood associations, notably the FAME association

• Objectives: to improve linkages and collaboration between non-profit and political players, heighten awareness of gender equality, strengthen mutual awareness among cultures, facilitate access to different forms of cultural recreation — to fight discrimination in all its forms

3.3 In search of discoveries

• Interventions and workshops directed at children and adults that take place in schools, day-care centres and public spaces, at parties…

3.4 22nd Festival Pluriel > a roving, multidisciplinary festival

• Exhibitions, readings, debates, theatres, concerts… from October to December

• Objective: exchanges between cultures, artists and audiences / to fight against exclusion and intolerance through quality programming that offers a diverse array of performance spaces and creations.

3.5 La Louche d’Or in the Wazemmes district of Lille

The Wazemmes district of Lille.

This popular old district has undergone profound changes. Little by little, its numerous factories closed down and industrial wasteland was demolished or reclaimed. These newly liberated spaces were transformed either into community facilities, such as the Maison Folie in Wazemmes, or into residential dwellings or green spaces.

These structural transformations were accompanied by socio-demographic changes with the arrival of a new, younger, wealthier population.

Wazemmes’s influence now extends beyond the boundaries of the neighbourhood and the city; on Sundays, people come a long way to go to its market (40 000 visitors every week) where the kaleidoscope of perfumes and colours reflects the cultural diversity of the area.

• La Louche d’Or, the symbolic, albeit humorous and festive S.O.U.P.E (“soup”) competition, has taken place every May 1st since 2001 and marks the end of festivities held during the S.O.U.PE festival week in the Wazemmes district of Lille.

• In keeping with the unifying theme of the S.O.U.P.E competition [soup as an example of something common to all cultures], the idea is to rally a whole neighbourhood, and above all to bring together different players, including residents, artists, shopkeepers, associations…)

• The goal is to highlight different cultures and facilitate the exchanges, discoveries and knowledge transfer typical of the S.O.U.P.E, as well as to provide visibility and recognition through participation.

• La Louche d’Or includes musical performances highlighting each of the five continents

3.5.1 Video (7 minutes)

3.6 S.O.U.P.E international festival

(Symbol of the Openness and Union of European Peoples)

• Thanks to La Louche d’Or a network of 6 European cities (Barcelona, Bologna, Berlin, Frankfurt, Madrid and Lille) was created in 2002. It brought them together around a common charter, calling on them to respect the fundamental tenets that the festival should be free, participative and open, recreational and festive, “desired”, and spontaneous.

• In 2007, Attacafa responded to a request for proposal from the European Commission DG for Education and Culture concerning an exchange of artists and residents with two of the network partners: the OLTRE association in Bologna and 9 Barris Acull in Barcelona

• The agreement on a two-year project in 2008-2009 anticipates exchanges of artists and residents between Lille, Barcelona and Bologna. These exchanges aim to promote intercultural dialogue: locally, among residents and artists of different backgrounds, and on a transnational level by facilitating artists’ mobility and planning a joint event for 2009 — an international colloquium on the issues of local cultural interventions, European citizenship, awareness of the history of immigration and culture in the three countries, and appreciation for the world’s various cultural traditions and legacies.

3.6.1 2008 Calendar:

• 30 Mars 2008: 5th Sopes del Mon Mundial festival, Nou Barris district, Barcelona

• 25 April 2008: 3rd Gran Festival Internazionale della Zuppa, Corticella district, Bologna

• 1 May 2008: 8th La Louche d’Or Festival, Wazemmes district, Lille

3.6.2 2009 Calendar:

• 30 Mars 2009: 6th Sopes del Mon Mundial festival, Nou Barris district, Barcelona

• 25 April 2009: 4th Gran Festival Internazionale della Zuppa, Corticella district, Bologna

• 1 May 2009: 9th May: La Louche d’Or Festival, Wazemmes district, Lille

• October 2009: international colloquium of S.O.U.P.E meetings, Lille