Spring seems to come quicker in Paris than any other season in any other city. It was just yesterday that we were singing our hearts out to Auld Lang Syne with champagne in hand. But before you can say “what does auld lang syne mean again?”, the tulips push up from the ground in the Tuilleries, the smart looking waiters on the rue des Abbesses cafés dust off the terrace chairs and next thing you know, Spring has sprung.
This month is the return of the long- lost but not forgotten PVA blog, left unattended by myself during the winter season. Below you’ll find some fantastic suggestions to ring in spring this month in your favorite city, even if we are a bit late!
Musée d’Orsay Temporary Exhibits
8th March to 29th May 2011
Pre-Raphaelite Photography
8th March to 29th May 2011
Gustav Mahler
5th April to 3rd July 2011
Manet, the Man who Invented Modern Art
Saut Hermès at the Grand Palais
The second year of equestrian contests bringing back to life a tradition suspended in 1957 in this temple of Parisian culture.
From 15 To 17 April 2011 La Nef du Grand Palais
A show jumping contest in the heart of Paris? No, you are not dreaming. This is no longer a privilege reserved for the major hippodromes on the outskirts of the capital.
From 1901 to 1957, the Grand Palais was effectively the stage for equestrian events, speed trials and carrousels where the whole city would flock every spring to see carthorses and Anglo-Norman horses. From 15th to 17th April 2011, the second year of the Saut Hermès will revive this fervour under the glass roof of this famous monument.
On the programme, equestrian shows created especially for the event and seven horse-jumping trials in which the world’s 35 best riders compete, including Eric Lamaze, Simon Delestre, Kevin Staut, Rolf-Göran Bengtsson and Marcus Ehning. For the first time this year, the 15 best young European riders are also invited to take part in two new trials.
Food design – delicate adventures
The Lieu du Design gives carte blanche to Marc Brétillot, French master of culinary design, for an exhibition and a series of performances.
From 09 March To 30 April 2011 Le lieu du design
Brétillot has imagined a triple circuit, inspired by the ten years he has spent at the Ecole Supérieure d’Art et de Design (Ensad) in Reims where he leads a research workshop in his very unusual discipline. You can see the work of six young designers following in the steps of their prestigious elder. And the work of a group of students developed in conjunction with major food processing industry groups (Quick, La Grande Epicerie...).
You can also attend five evening culinary performances presented by Ensad graduates alongside students from the Ecole Supérieure de Cuisine Française Grégoire Ferrandi where Brétillot also teaches. A conference will be held before each performance.Those wanting to find out more about culinary design can delve into the totem library, a meeting place with a sizeable library (monographs, reference books, books on food, human sciences...). Designer Magali Wehrung will also hold two culinary workshops for children.
Pompidou Center
A new take on Murano Glass with Jean-Michel Othoniel
Who says you need to go to Venice to see the famous Murano Glass? Starting on 2nd March 2011, the Centre Pompidou is presenting his first retrospective, presented as a chain of a dozen small exhibitions, summaries of each creative period. A unique opportunity to discover his first sculptures made of yellow sulphur powder or wax, his installations made using the phosphorous from matches, his paintings of hidden eroticism, his famous giant necklaces in Murano glass and his latest monumental works of art. A journey through a strange and incredibly intense universe, navigating between magic and crudeness.
Kubrick Fans!
The exhibition dedicated to Stanley Kubrick (1928-1999), one of the 20th century's greatest filmmakers, invites you to discover the fascinating and intimate universe of the maker of Lolita, 2001: a Space Odyssey, Barry Lyndon, The Shining, Full Metal Jacket or even Eyes Wide Shut. Get exclusive access to documents on the producer’s preparatory work: scenarios, pilot studies, letters, research preparatory archives, photographs, costumes and accessories, as well as detailed documentation on the incomplete projects which now have cult status such as: "Napoleon".
From his beginnings as a photographer for the American magazine "Look" in the 1940s to the most recent photographs, enter the universe of the master who, at a very young age, already possessed a keen sense of visual composition. Finally, through interactive digital installations, go behind the set and discover the technical innovations and special effects perfected by Kubrick.
From 23 March To 31 Juily 2011 Cinémathèque française
*Thanks to the New Ile de la France for these great ideas!!
