Tag: marseille

Postcard from Marseille, France: Unmasking cultural richness of overseas indigenous peoples

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Above: Display in Musee d’Arts Africains, Oceaniens, Amerindiens housed in a portion of La Vieille Charite

Stunningly exquisite, feathered pieces; masks meant to placate gods or frighten enemies; and skulls and shrunken heads all abide together in the city’s Musee d’Arts Africains, Oceaniens, Amerindiens. With dramatic lighting illuminating its exhibits, Marseille opened the museum in 1992 in the renovated Vielle Charite.

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Postcard from Marseille, France: Vigilante ‘Street Doctor’ flacks cracks

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Above: Mosaic sidewalk patch by Ememem in Marseille

I’m just a sidewalk poet…. My work is the story of the city, where cobblestones have been displaced.”

Street artist Ememem, interviewed by Arnesia Young for My Modern Met

This mosaic underfoot in Marseille caught my attention, with no expectation of future encounters. Then we started bumping into similar tileworks in Lyon, where they transform annoying potholes, sidewalk trip-zones and missing chunks from buildings clipped by careless drivers into works of art.

As it turns out, the artist, who refers to himself as Ememem, is a native of Lyon. Ememem terms his work “flacking.” Flaque means puddle in French, but, instead of puddling, his hole-plugging repairs assume the role of a puddle-displacement public service.

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