This quarterly magazine, dedicated to visual and live art and created in Nice, is now distributed in 42 countries by NMPP instead of the previous 20.
This is not the only new feature of issue 5:
performArts now features a “perfect binding” and its pagination has increased from 48 to 64 pages, with more texts and photos.
To strengthen ties with each country, www.performarts.net will now list all those involved with the magazine along with the name of the distributor and a website or email to find out where it can be purchased.
Starting with issue 6, which is scheduled for release in mid-June, the list of countries will be updated in the “masthead” and on the cover.
Last piece of news, performArts will be participating in the Paris Book Fair (March 23-27, 2007) at Booth A88, Carré des Arts.
Nice Premium: Performarts was created five issues ago, can you tell us about the birth of this cultural magazine and what was the ambition at the time?
Christian Depardieu: PerformArts, a cultural media on the Internet and in print quarterly, is designed and produced in Nice, a region that is open to the international community, endowed with an exceptionally rich and diverse cultural heritage, the result of its geographic location and history.
(The 20th century art is indeed one of the most remarkable specialties of the Côte d’Azur. Great masters like Renoir, Picasso, Chagall, Léger, Matisse, Bonnard, etc. were followed by artists from the École de Nice (Klein, César, Arman, Ben, Alocco, etc.) and today, many artists living and working in the region continue this tradition, creating a real laboratory for all forms of art.)
Its editorial team includes journalists, critics, artists, writers, and collectors from France, Germany, Italy, and Belgium. With a journalistic ideal, a strong personality, and based on solid cultural values, PerformArts represents a real specificity in the French cultural media landscape. It is part of a broad movement of standardization and networking of cultures, especially at the European level.
Main themes covered: painting, sculpture, photography, digital art, installation, video, cinema, music, architecture, theater, opera, dance, literature…
And culturally, what has changed on the Côte d’Azur, in France, and in the world?
CD: Let’s just mention the new breeze blowing on the Côte d’Azur: In Monaco where, since Prince Albert’s ascendancy, cultural projects abound, notably the preparation of the future contemporary art museum, but also contemporary dance; in Saint Paul where Michel Enrici, the new director of the Fondation Maeght, is starting an exhibition program with young artists; at Villa Arson where Alain Derey has become the general director and Eric Mangion, the artistic director (with Jean Marc Réol, Director of Education) all three brimming with ideas; At the Chagall and Fernand Léger museums, with Maurice Fréchuret, back from the CAPC of Bordeaux; in Mouans-Sartoux where Jean-Marc Avrilla has been appointed director of the Espace d’Art Concret… All know each other, have already worked together, and fully intend to continue…
If we add the opening in recent times, especially in Nice, of several contemporary art galleries, the artists’ collectives of the Station and the Sous Station Lebon, already well established in the landscape, the Villa Abandonnée of Hélène Fincker… which adds to the galleries that have existed for a long time, it must be acknowledged that the contemporary art scene is seriously picking up again. With the presence of numerous artists, everything is in place for our readers, even those far away, to want to discover this intense artistic creation and a contemporary art market that had somewhat fallen asleep in recent years, especially after the orchestrated disappearance in 2001 by the City of Nice, of the Art Jonction contemporary art fair after sixteen years of existence.
If there were only one issue to remember, which would it be?
CD: Issue number 5 currently being printed. 64 pages of pure cultural joy and a great graphical success…
Finally, returning to Nice. The city on the Côte d’Azur is a candidate to be the European Capital of Culture in 2013. Why does it deserve to be elected? For you, what is the cultural symbol of Nice?
CD: The best answer is the editorial of issue 5:
Lyon, Marseille, Nice, Saint-Etienne, Strasbourg, Toulouse, candidate cities to become the European Capital of Culture in France in 2013, with Slovakia as the other country.
The successful example of Lille, which brilliantly held the title in 2004, naturally excites the spirits.
The phrase attributed to Jean Monnet, one of the founding fathers of Europe “if we had to redo Europe, I would start with culture” seems to embody what has become a major challenge of our developed societies. Today, the cultural image of a city is the object of political, economic, media, and societal struggles. European construction thus passes through this intense competition between metropolises, in a bidding war of cultural projects.
On the Internet, Marseille and Lyon are, for the moment, the most aggressive. But, Nice and its region, (home of our publication), have serious geographical, historical, and cultural assets. The team, led by Bernard Faivre d’Arcier, seems convincing and up to the challenge. The sponsorship of personalities such as the architect Jean Nouvel, the original approach through innovative projects, as well as the rallying of many surrounding cities including the Principality of Monaco, lend credibility to the whole.
So, what is this reserve expressed in a mezzo voce, clearly perceptible, from the cultural circles to a project that can only energize initiatives and benefit everyone?
