Thursday 6 May 2010

Something for the Weekend (7th – 9th May)

Love, dreams and murder this weekend in Paris, with a little touch of history thrown in for good measure. Note also that this Saturday is a public holiday commemorating the end of the 2nd World War in Europe, so expect to find certain places closed.

If you have any events or activities you think should be promoted or which you would like to promote yourself, please add them in the comments. Let me know also if you have any events in the coming weekends you would like to promote.

Paris d'Amour
Paris-based photographer Gérard Uféras spent two years recording images from 70 different marriage or civil (PACS) ceremonies in the city, with the result being this fascinating exhibition at the Hotel de Ville. Beyond the artistic quality of the photos themselves, the exhibition also takes a look at the many different cultures and nationalities of those signing up for a life together in Paris, and poses many questions about the role played by the city in their relationships.
Salon d’accueil de l’Hôtel de Ville 29 rue de Rivoli, 75004, M° Hôtel de Ville
From 6th May to 31st July, 10am – 7pm daily except Sundays and Public Holidays.
Free entry


Fête l’Europe
60 years ago this weekend, Robert Schuman, the French Foreign Affairs minister at the time, made a famous announcement that is seen as the founding moment of the European Union. “Europe will not be made all at once, or according to a single plan” was Schuman’s message that day, and how prescient that still seems with today’s crisis in the Union. Schuman’s principal idea was to put an end to years of conflict with Germany by combining the two countries’ coal and steel production, thus making future wars materially impossible.

To commemorate the event, the Salons du Quai d’Orsay, where Robert Schuman launched his declaration, will exceptionally be open to the public this weekend.
Saturday 8th Sunday 9th May
37 Quai d’Orsay, 75007, M° Invalides
10am - 6pm


Dreamlands
"I am of a generation for whom the big city meant a centre of cultural influence or economic power; now it has become a theme park, a vast camp or an architectural aberration and utter social hotchpotch” taking inspiration from urban observer J. G. Ballard, this new exhibition at the Centre Pompidou sets out to demonstrate how large cities have been transformed in recent years and how universal expositions and amusement parks have played a role in this.

Looking also at the manifestos of the Situationists in the 1950s and 60s who called for cities to become a world of 'universal attraction', it is rather buildings themselves that have become both spectacle and entertainment, with architects such as Rem Koolhaas celebrating the fantastical and breaking down modernist constraints. However, it is corporations such as the Walt Disney Company who actually first built these places and developed the concept of 'imagineering', techniques that now apply to the development of entire cities, including Las Vegas, Dubai and Shanghai.
Until August 9th
Centre Pompidou, M° Rambuteau


Cara Black at the Red Wheelbarrow
Not technically taking place this weekend, but certainly worthy of a mention is the visit of Cara Black to Paris. She'll be reading from her 10th Aimée Leduc novel, "Murder in the Palais Royal" at the Red Wheelbarrow bookshop in the Marais next Tuesday, and will be open to as many questions as possible afterwards!
The Red Wheelbarrow
Tuesday, May 11th, 7pm
22 rue Saint Paul, 75004, M°Saint Paul

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