Transformative Territories: Performing transition through the arts
A new European cooperation program led by COAL and five partners on Transformative Artistic Practices
LES NUITS DES FORÊT À FONTAINEBLEAU – June 9-11
COAL invites you to the heart of the Réserves Artistiques en forêt de Fontainebleau for the 4th edition of Nuits des forêts, on June 9, 10 and 11. Some fifteen artists and forest enthusiasts take over this historic site for a weekend in the great outdoors, offering a rich cultural and sensitive program. which reminds us of the power of past and present art to preserve forests and feel alive among the living.
Image credits: Jérôme Bel, Isadora Duncan © Véronique Baron
Published on 5 June 2023
One study showed that American children were on average able to identify almost a thousand brand logos, but could barely distinguish two tree leaves. Faced with this crisis in our sensitivity to the living world, Nuits des Forêts invites the general public to reconnect with the shimmering world of the forest. Reconnecting with the artistic history of the Fontainebleau forest, which in 1861 became the world’s first protected natural area in the name of art and beauty, the program features a wide range of practices, both intimate and collective, performative and participative, creative and educational, that address the major issues facing the forest: its functions, its mysteries, its management and its future. Three days of discoveries and experiments, day or night, to stimulate the senses, collective intelligence and, why not, the desire to act.
An artistic proposal by Lauranne Germond, Sara Dufour ( COAL. )
// RENDEZVOUS AT MONT- USSY //
— FRIDAY, JUNE 9
6:30 pm: LAUNCH OF NUITS DES FORETS 2023
6:30 pm – 8 pm: WORK PARCOURS
listening to nature, by artist Laurent Tixador
7pm: VEILLÉE
On adapting the forests of Île-de-France to climate change.
20h : SPECTACLE Promenons-nous dans l’émoi, by actor and director Jacques Bonnaffé and flautist and bird singer Idriss Damien.
Show followed by a call demonstration by Idriss Damien
22h: OBSERVATION
Discovering bats with Alexandre Butin, ONF.
22h – 00h: OEUVRE NOCTURNE
Nous sommes pierres devenues chair, a work by G & K – Stéphane Guiran & Katarzyna Kot.
— SATURDAY, JUNE 10 —
10am & 2pm: WALK to discover the industrial past of the Fontainebleau forest with students fromUniversité Paris Cité.
RDV ROUTE de la Faisanderie, quarry trail entrance.
10am-1pm: CITIZENS’ ACTION Removal of invasive plants with the association Sauvez la forêt de Fontainebleau.
2pm – 9pm: WORK PARCOURS
listening to nature, by artist Laurent Tixador
2pm, 3pm, 4pm, 5pm: Plant creation WORKSHOPS for young and old with Dany Lof.
3pm: WALK
in the footsteps of the Denecourt trails, with the Amis de la forêt de Fontainebleau and an actor.
3pm & 5:30pm: SHARED DANCE
Occult, an immersive experience in nature with Robin Decourcy.
6pm: WALK
Hot on forests: Fontainebleau and climate change, with Alexandre Butin, ONF.
6-10pm:PERFORMANCE Armature variable by Claude Cattelain, echoing the balance of the forest.
7:30-9pm: WALK to listen to the forest with an ornithologist from the LPO, along the route of works by Laurent Tixador
9pm: PERFORMANCE In Hybird, Violaine Lochu reinvents herself as a bird-woman.
Followed by a discussion with an ornithologist from the LPO.
9pm: TALES DU SOIR,
with storyteller Violaine Robert.
22h – 00h: OEUVRE NOCTURNE
Nous sommes pierres devenues chair, a work by G & K – Stéphane Guiran & Katarzyna Kot.
10:30pm: SPECTACLE Trève, a spellbinding performance with Robin Decourcy, Abdullah Miniawy and Peter Corser.
— SUNDAY, JUNE 11
8:30am – 9:30am: WALK to discover forest birds with the Ligue de Protection des Oiseaux.
2pm – 10pm: WORK PARCOURS
listening to nature, by artist Laurent Tixador
3:30 pm TALES AND LEGENDS told by Florence Desnouveaux at the foot of a large oak tree.
3:30PM PERFORMANCE
The lost species, a celebration of life combining costume, dance and percussion imagined by artist Lucy Orta.
4PM PERFORMANCE Enforestation, an itinerant experience guided by Paris Opera dancers Simon Le Borgne and Antonin Monié.
5:30 PM CONCERT
Delicate, nature-inspired guitar-vocals by singer Laura Cahen.
22h – 00h: OEUVRE NOCTURNE
Nous sommes pierres devenues chair, a work by G & K – Stéphane Guiran & Katarzyna Kot.
// OTHER EVENTS IN THE FONTAINEBLEAU AREA //
Le Cyclop,
Bois des pauvres,
Milly-la-Forêt
JUNE 10TH
10:30am-9:30pm EXHIBITION AND PERFORMANCE
Discover Murmures en fractales in this unique heritage site and enjoy a performance by Virginie Yassef.
Champagne-sur-Seine communal forest, by the commune and ONF
JUNE 10
5:30pm-10pm MUSICAL AND NATURALIST STORYWALK
Musical and naturalist storytelling stroll with Compagnie La Fleur qui Rit and the ONF, followed by a picnic and acoustic concert.
Bois du Val Hochard, Dannemois, by Olivier Bergeron
JUNE 11
11am-9pm LA CABANE
Join us for a day of surprises at the Cabane: exhibitions, dance, yoga and sound therapy.
JUNE 11
11am-7pm ARTISTS IN THE FOREST A day punctuated by land art, sculptures, lectures and an exhibition, in partnership with the association Sauvez la forêt de Fontainebleau.
Bois de la Commanderie, by Association Ida y Vuelta
JUNE 16-18
10H-22H FORESTRY AND ART WALKS
Art walk, educational co-construction, dance performance in nature, land art, photo installation, ceramics, readings and discussions.
Bois de Champagne, by Mairie de Saint-Fargeau Ponthierry
JUNE 17
4-10:30 PM THEATRE AND CHAMPAGNE PICNIC
Immersive, ecological theatrical show by Compagnie des Aigles de sable, plus country picnic.
Barbizon
JUNE 17
10h-17h30 EXHIBITION
La forêt que nous voyons – Two centuries of landscape painting in Fontainebleau, at Théodore Rousseau’s home and studio.
2PM WALK
In the footsteps of the Barbizon painters with the Friends of the Forest of Fontainebleau.
CLOSING AT LA FOLIE BARBIZON
JUNE18
11H-00H LE CHANT DE LA FORÊT
A day of sensory experiences and a closing evening of the festival around the music of plants, with Priscilla Telmon.
Thanks to our partners :
- Fontainebleau & Gâtinais Biosphere
- Agglomeration community
- Fontainebleau region
- La Folie Barbizon
- MAIF Social Club
- Office national des Forêts
- Fontainebleau Town Hall
- City of Champagne-sur-Seine
- Saint-Fargeau-Ponthierry Town Hall
- Université Paris Cité and its Forest Ecology Station
Les Nuits des forêts is a nationwide event for the general public, taking place this year from June 9 to 18 in 170 forests across France. With more than 20 new sites, discover the agenda of this 4th edition! COAL is the proud partner and artistic advisor of Nuits des Forêts.
Discover the complete Nuits des forêts program on nuitsdesforêts.com.
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