Le voyage to Nantes

Between ancient buildings, a spontaneous forest grows (“Jungle intérieure”, Evor) while on the sides of the tram tracks, small beings with bizarre features stare at you with their wide-eyed eyes (“The Humans” by Olaf Breuning). Then some strange marine animals invade the fountain in the Place Royale (“Pacific” by Maen Florin) and, a little further on, a little girl descends from the pedestal in “Eloge de la transgression” by Philippe Ramette.

It could be said that this "praise to transgression" is, at the same time, the title of one of this year's works but also the mood of Le Voyages à Nantes , the event that every year transforms the French city into a huge playground for artists, who can give life to their creativity here and, in some cases, leave it in situ.

And so, even for tourists, it becomes a game to follow the green trail that winds through sidewalks, crossroads, bridges and roads and that always leads to something new and unexpected. The works merge with some of those from past editions, and obviously with the city context, which, as it is easy to understand, is also an integral part of the experience.

Nantes is located on the Loire estuary, which still flows under a large part of the city, and which from the Middle Ages allowed it to be the most important Breton port, as evidenced by the ancient palaces that sailors and merchants who enriched themselves with the Colonial Trade built. who brought cotton, cocoa, coffee to Europe and slaves to the Americas (remembered here with the important Mémorial de l'abolition de l'esclavage ).

A history, that of the port and the shipyards, which has come down to the present day, in 1987 - symbols such as the imposing cranes on the Ile de Nantes remain - and whose dismantling has transformed, thanks to a real cultural revolution and artistic, the urban fabric of the city e it has stirred the imagination of architects, landscapers, and urban poets.

There are currently around 130 works scattered throughout the city , which include colorful trams (Le Jardin Mobiles, Florian Viel), play areas, viewpoints (Belvédére de l'Hermitage, Tadashi Kawamata, open until 10 pm in summer), universities (of architecture. Fine Arts, Graphics... opposite In a silent Way by Nathalie Talec), department stores , shop signs, passageways, cemeteries (Miror de s temps, Pascal Convert), hotel rooms and private collections (Collection des masques Peignon).

And you don't even need to go around with a guide in hand - but perhaps with the Nantes Pass for transport and visits, yes - and let your instinct lead you around the city. From the shopping streets (where there is European Thousand-Arms Classical Sculpture, Xu Zhen, the symbolic work of this year, to the medieval Quartier Bouffay , where there is the Castle of the Dukes of Brittany , then walking along the river, or get there (by car) - there are 210 km of waterside walks - to the works on the Estuary.