Lille 3000 is an association representing a cultural program promoted by the city of Lille and the Lille 2004 organizing committee.

Lille 3000 is intended as a continuation of the dynamism instilled by Lille in 2004 as European Capital of Culture.

Lille 3000 reuses the cultural venues created or renovated for Lille 2004 (Tri Postal, Maisons Folies etc.); but also creates new ones (rehabilitation of the former Saint Sauveur goods station, which became a cultural center in 2009, etc.).

Together with the city, the association manages several of the cultural facilities mentioned above, and regularly organizes a wide range of activities, metamorphoses, shows and exhibitions.

Every three years or so since 2006, Lille 3000 has also presented a series of major themed cultural events (cultural seasons) lasting several months and attracting millions of visitors, under the artistic direction of Didier Fusillier. These events open with a grand parade through the streets of Lille.

History

Bombayser de Lille

The main theme of Lille 3000's first cultural season, which ran from October 14 2006 to January 14 2007, was India, at the crossroads of art and modernity. It involved the organization of 450 events, including music, cinema, theater, dance, meetings, and exhibitions, attracting nearly a million visitors1.

The Lille 3000 themes related to India were divided into several distinct categories, each held at different venues according to a calendar2 ;

• Music
• Film, literature and fashion
• Exhibitions
• Theater
• Dance
• Maisons Folie
• Midi Midi
• Metamorphosis

Europe XXL

The second season of Lille 3000, entitled Europe XXL, ran from March 14 to July 12, 2009. Its main theme was Eastern Europe, to mark the twentieth anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. It led to the organization of around 500 events and some 50 exhibitions, and attracted almost a million visitors1.

Fantastic

Lille 3000's third season ran from October 6, 2012 to January 13, 2013. Its theme was the world of the supernatural, the fantastic and the strange. It attracted almost two million visitors3.

In addition to several shows and events, the season included installations throughout the city and numerous exhibitions in the metropolis' main museums4.

Renaissance

Lille 3000's fourth season kicked off on September 26, 2015, inaugurated by a grand parade through the streets of Lille. This season aimed to showcase the vitality of the contemporary world, via numerous exhibitions and urban metamorphoses. The beginning of the 21st century embodies a turbulent era from which a new world is emerging, embodied here by major cities; represented for this edition were Rio, Detroit, Eindhoven, Phnom Penh and Seoul.

Renaissance attracted 1.6 million visitors.

Eldorado

Lille 3000's fifth season runs from April to December 2019 on the theme of Mexico. Eldorado attracted over 2.5 million visitors5.^[1]

The Great Eldorado Parade

The parade schedule

This parade was composed mainly of five floats. There were many elements of the 2018 Fiesta de los Muertos sent by Mexico; but also harmonies, amateur participants and professional companies invited for the occasion. Four floats were imagined, decorated and orchestrated by Roubaix-based collective Art Point M: the Dia de los Muertos float featuring mariachis; the Frida-Khalo float; the Alebrijes float accompanied by Compagnie du Tire-Laine; and the Lucha Libre float re-enacting a live wrestling match.

In all, a dozen bands and 3,000 dancers, musicians and people in make-up or disguises [ref. needed] paraded around the floats in Mexican colors.^[2]

Parade entertainment

On Saturday, May 4, 2019, the festivities got underway at 3 pm at Tripostal and the Euralille shopping center, where children and adults got ready in make-up, costume, mask, and wreath workshops until 6 pm. And at 3 p.m., a flash mob set the pace in Place du Théâtre, opposite the Lille Opera House.

Musiques de la parade

During the parade, many artists were present on the floats. On the Dia de Los Muertos (“Day of the Dead”) float, the Mexican music group Mariachi Cocula6 was on hand to entertain the people of Lille along the established route. For the float representing Mexican painter Frida Kahlo, group 4cascabel6 played the Fandango, a musical genre with Latin and African influences. On the Alebrijes float (wooden statues representing fantastic animals and creatures), the Compagnie du Tire-Laine6, an orchestra based in the Moulins district, brought together over sixty musicians. After the parade, they organized a grand ball on the Place du Théâtre at the end of the evening. The festivities continued after the parade ended, from 10 pm to 1 am. Musicians from Soundtruck6 and DJ El Frances6 improvised a music studio in a Volkswagen van near Rue Nationale. In the Place du Théâtre, the group Kumbia Boruka6, founded by Hernan Cortes, got the tourists up and dancing with its blend of Mexican accordion and Jamaican reggae. Other groups, such as Mariachi Los Tarasco6 and Theator Tol6, offered songs and music from all over the world. Electro-house music was also in the spotlight on Place Rihour, where DJ Batichica, originally from Guadalajara in Mexico, presented a set of EDM (Electronic Dance Music).

Parade safety

Along the entire parade route, between Place des Buisses and Champ de Mars, 250,000 spectators gathered to watch the nearly 800-meter-long procession pass by. The organizers had set up a restricted and regulated traffic and parking plan. A protective perimeter was set up by the national police in downtown Lille from 3 pm to 2 am. Streets affected by the parade were closed to traffic from 6.30 pm to 2 am. In some streets downstream from the starting point, visitors waited for two hours for the parade to pass. Most were on foot along the routes reserved for the floats, which slowed the parade's progress to the Champ de Mars.

Parade postponed

The parade, scheduled for Saturday, April 27, 2019, has been postponed to Saturday, May 4, 2019, due to weather conditions (forecasts of high winds threatened the smooth running of the parade). The decision was taken on Thursday, April 25 by the lille3000 organization, Lille City Council, and the Nord^[3] prefecture. It was the first time in five editions that a lille3000 parade had been postponed. As a result of the postponement, some installations originally scheduled for the parade were not present.^[4]

Exhibitions

For this season, a number of exhibitions on the theme of El Dorado (myth, travel, migration, nature, etc.) have been set up (see sub-sections below). Other major exhibitions are also on offer at the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Lille, the Piscine in Roubaix, the Louvre-Lens and the Frac Grand Large in Dunkirk.

Mexican muralists, the “Tlacolulokos” duo (named after their native village), have been invited to paint three murals in the Mexican tradition, with local inspiration; two exhibitions are devoted to the art of fresco.^[5]

Eldorama

Le Tripostal hosts the Eldorado exhibition from April 27 to September 1, 2019. In three chapters, it retraces the great story of Eldorado. On the second floor, visitors will find the Dream Worlds section. The second floor features The Rush. Finally, on the top floor of the building, visitors can find the section entitled Un eldorado sans fin. Chinese artist Chen Zhen's dragon and Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama's light piece are also on show11.^[6]

Intenso/Mexicano

In this exhibition at the Hôtel de l'Hospice Comtesse from April 27 to August 30, 2019, visitors can discover works by the great names of Mexican art: Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera, José Clemente Orozco and Manuel Álvarez Bravo. In all, 48 paintings, prints, and photographs from the permanent collection of Mexico City's Museo de Arte Moderno. The exhibition covers the Mexican 20th century.

US-Mexico/Border

From April 27 to July 28, Maison Folie in Wazemmes will be exhibiting “the work of contemporary artists who explore the border as both a physical reality and a subject of imagination and experimentation, enabling projects to emerge and solutions to be found”. The exhibition was previously presented in Los Angeles, at the Craft & Folk Art Museum. Drawings, architecture, sculpture, painting, and photography are on show, demonstrating the crossover between the different disciplines.

The Green Goddess

From April 27 to November 3, 2019, the Gare Saint Sauveur is hosting the “La Déesse Verte” exhibition, which draws a parallel between art and nature. A vast greenhouse has been reconstituted and embellished by the works of some twenty artists, who raise issues such as the overexploitation of nature and the effects of the human kingdom on the ecosystem.

Curiosity

From April 27 to July 13, 2019, Lille's natural history museum is exhibiting collections from Mexico City's Museum of Popular Art, referring to Mexico's traditional culture and imaginary world.

See also

• Lille
• Rue Esquermoise
• Citadel of Lille

References

Bibliography

Notes