…from Cannes to Basel to Batz…

Whether May is out or not, we may cast a clout.

It will start in Cannes where I’ll stand along the premiere of the titanic film from the Shiva of animated movies Sébastien Laudenbach, «La jeune fille sans mains», that will inaugurate this year ACiD selection on May 12th. Emilie Deleuze’s «Jamais contente», that recently won a Special Mention at the Berlinale, will be shown at the Cannes Junior programme.

From Cannes to the Lilas where I’ll meet again the lunar poachers of the glittering big bazaar «On a dit…», at the Théâtre du Garde-Chasse on May 13th.

From the Garde-Chasse to the Champs Libres cultural space in Rennes where, during a live music-performance with Richard Dumas, we will present variations of the music and photographs from our «TAN-Dégât des eaux» exhibited at the Museum of Brittany. That will be the Musical Time on Wednesday May 18th at noon, a simple way for burning calories by skipping your lunch.

From Rennes to Fontevraud Royal Abbey where the stirring recumbent of Verlaine will come and tease Eleanor of Aquitaine and will steal the heart of King Richard I through the intercession of Sir John Greaves and his impossible posse made of Elise Caron, Eve Risser, Régis Boulard*, Guillaume Roy, myself* and Himiko Paganotti who -Joy!- has joined this adventure. The asterisked two-seventh of this crew, also known as the NO&RD duet, will lead off as American stars.

From Saumur to Nancy. With Claire-Ingrid Cottanceau, we will continue to investigate on Rothko’s miracle, a project in which France Culture radio is now being involved. After having plunged Georges Didi-Huberman into darkness, we will meet Jean-Luc Nancy to invoke irrevocable matters at the Basel Fondation Beyeler in the light of the painter’s vibrant canvasses.

From Basel to Batz where we will go and plan a new coup with the sirenest-soprano Valérie Gabail and the serenest John Greaves. We will be settling the groundwork of a future common creation for a few days, and that working session will end by an impromptu concert in someone’s home on May 28th. You will easily find the place when getting on the island.

From Batz to climb the highs of Ménilmontant Monte-en-l’Air where Richard Dumas and I will perform the «Tan» music-lecture again, on May 31st, to celebrate the release of the vinyl disc-portfolio that appears quite beautiful and quite orderable at the Éditions de Juillet.

To end with, from Paris to everywhere, the «Qualité Humaine» radio documentary, a chilling investigation about standards in which I searched to blur the tuning fork, will be broadcast on Radio Campus, at 6pm from the 2nd to the 5th, as part of the Festival Brouillage.

From one train to another, we will continue to tighten the bolts of the No Land vessel for its coming lifting off.

Till then, let’s continue to stuff with beauty the Cadavre exquis of our lives.

Olivier Mellano