MP2013 : European capital of culture

Artistic proposals on the GR2013 during the European Capital of Culture. The year 2013 was the year of approval of the GR2013 but also of a series of projects to explore the metropolitan territory with the artist-designers of the trail, as well as international guest artists.

The GR2013 is :

A 365 km long public space

Cultural facilities crossing 37 municipalities

1 territory of 3000 km2

100,000 visitors in 2013

On the occasion of the inauguration of the GR2013 trail, around ten artistic proposals took place from March to September 2013.

The Aygalades

Wild expeditions and conferences

Chronology of the main artistic and civic actions around the rediscovery of the stream

1994 – Launch of the Experimental Integrated Conservation Mission by Christine Breton within the City of Marseille.

2005 – First public walks during the European Heritage Days.

2008 – Launch of Urban Revelation Workshops around the river by ADDAP 13 (youth prevention).

2013 – Le Belvedere project by Ruedi Baur and Civic city, sustainability of heritage walks and release of Le Livre du Ruisseau as part of MP2013.

2016 – Creation, in the wake of the Urban Revelation Workshops, of the integration project of the Cascade des Aygalades led by I’APCAR (City of street arts).

2017 – The rise of the stream, artistic expedition offered by the GR2013 guides office.

2018 – Creation of a monthly meeting “Un dimanche aux Aygalades” by the Cité des arts de la rue, La Cité de l’Agriculture and the Bureau des guides du GR2013, articulating conferences around the river, farmers’ market, walks and artistic programming.

2019 – Creation of the Collectif des Gammares which organizes Operation Plastic Valley, the first collective action of the springs at the mouth of the stream.

2020 – Release of the first edition of La Gazette du Ruisseau by the Gammares collective.

The Bureau des guides takes the time to bring together the knowledge of residents and experts, in order to find the true measure of the place, to recognize this unique piece of territory and to share the story of these field studies. After the first expedition in 2017 with IMBE, as part of Euromediterranée survey, the explorations created a series of events which culminated in 2019, in the birth of a new collective: Les Gammares. Bringing together numerous associations and actors active along the stream, in order to take care of this urban river; promoting better knowledge sharing, linking initiatives and territories in the stream’s watershed, and initiating common actions.

Foresta

Foresta, a collective process within a future metropolitan park north of Marseille.

Foresta designates a possible future metropolitan park in the former tile basin of Séon north of Marseille, in what has today become the green belt of Grand Littoral.These 20 hectares represent an unusual green space in Marseille, simultaneously in its size but also in its unique history. Terraces of clay, vines then tiles, this part of the imposing domain of the Foresta family has been for fifteen years an open space, almost abandoned.

The GR2013 has chosen to trace its path in this remarkable landscape, marking the first public pedestrian route in this legally private space.

For several years, the Yes we camp collective, the Hôtel du Nord cooperative, the Résiliance company, alongside the GR2013 Bureau des guides and many local associations have been sharing experiences through walking, and slowly developing what could be a future metropolitan park:  as both a place of life, of heritage, cultural and sporting practices, but also a tool for urban agriculture and local production.

The GR2013 Bureau des guides contribute to an exploration of the landscape, experiments within an metropolitan environment, engaging in discussions that involve builders and residents, around the construction of an urban refuge on the site.

Pamparigouste expedition

Michelin road atlas, 2015

In 2015, the reissue of the Michelin road atlas forgot to include the blue water table of the Etang de Berre. The largest saltwater lake in Europe – 75 km of coastline, a 155 km2 lagoon and 980 million m3 of water – disappeared from the map.

In 2018, a wet spring brought enormous inflows of fresh water causing a phenomenal “phytoplankton bloom” which, associated with very high temperatures and an absence of mistral winds during the summer, created one of the most serious anoxic crises in the region. This particularly disturbing event is part of the long history of this highly industrialized territory, alerting us to the current fragility of its ecosystems.

In 2019, an expedition led by the Bureau des Guides, with a crew made up of artists, scientists and lagoon inhabitants, sets out to discover this inland sea. After sailing from Marseille, their ship ventures into the Caronte channel to re-invent a territory based on its coasts and shores.

A poetic and scientific exploration begins…

PAMPARIGOUSTE, is a metropolitan expedition supported by the FNADT, the South Region, the European project Nature 4 City Life, the Department of Bouches-du-Rhône, Les Parallèles du Sud de Manifesta 13, the Fondation de France, the municipalities of Martigues, Miramas, Saint-Chamas, Istres, Vitrolles and Berre-l’Étang. In coproduction with gmem-CNCM-marseille, Center National de Création Musicale de Marseille | ENSA • M. In partnership with Opéra Mundi, the TARA Oceans Foundation, the GIPREB, the eco-citizen institute of Fos, the LPED (Aix Marseille University), the Park of the former powder factory of St Chamas (SIANPOU), Yes we camp, the nautical bases and sailing clubs as well as the associations bordering the pond (ESSV, Batolab, LPO, ADMR, Étang Now, Nosta Mar, etc.).