European Capital of Culture candidacy : culture, youth and citizenship in action
Clermont-Ferrand is the birthplace of Europavox, and the town is now one of the finalists in the race to become European Capital of Culture for 2028. Matthieu Blondeau is the communications and European Affairs manager of this project, and he is keen to underline the strengths of the bid, which places an emphasis on youth and music.
By Noémie Lecoq
When does this bid date back to?
The current mayor (Editor’s note: Olivier Bianchi) started to formulate this idea when he became a councillor with responsibility for culture (Editor’s note: in 2008), so the idea originated well before the bid itself. A French city is European Culture Capital every thirteen or fourteen years. In Clermont, there was a cultural big event around cultural development in 2014, with an overriding aim of placing citizens at the heart of the town’s cultural life – Europavox is a good illustration of this. That’s where it started. The formulation of this bid dates back to four years ago. The association responsible for promoting it is just over two years old. First of all, there has to be a bidding process and we need to ensure that we meet the selection criteria, which have changed a lot since 1985. The new selection procedure was formalised in 2018.
The bid concerns the town of Clermont-Ferrand, but also the Massif Central area. How did this concept come into being?
At first, there was only Clermont-Ferrand. We widened our scope to include the Massif Central in order to take a common approach to the issues we are facing. A European Capital of Culture means focusing on what a particular area can provide Europe with. We noticed that we are in a location that is talked about little yet where there are plenty of interesting projects to take on. Clermont is a large town in the middle of a rural area, and it’s useful to look into solutions together regarding issues such as the means of communication or mobility. Behind all of this is the “Europe des massifs” project: we realised that the Massif Central is just one of many such areas across Europe, places located in hilly zones, that we can join forces with to overcome the shared issues and problems that we face.
How would you describe this area to someone who has never visited it?
As part of our bid, we talk about “Middle Earth”. This is a nod to Tolkien but is also an intuitive reflection of this land that we all carry in our hearts. It’s a very big region with low population density, from the department of Creuse to the Morvan massif, not forgetting Cantal. We have areas here that are both rural and open to the outside world. I come from Limousin, an area that many people move away from, something that has been happening since the 19th century as we are told that we need to move away to get on in life. I grew up in Limoges, my grandparents were from Corrèze and Creuse. It’s very important to me to see that in Clermont-Ferrand the population is currently reappropriating space to improve quality of life, especially since the Covid period. Right now, we’re finding solutions for people who want to come and live here and to encourage young people to stay. This is really important to me, because I can see huge potential in these areas, which have so much to offer. In Clermont, I think we can turn these underlying trends around thanks to strong commitment and proposals.
This idea of youth is important to us at Europavox…
I know Europavox well. Until a short time ago, I was communications manager for the European Parliament in France, and together with Europavox we organised Europe Day seven times, held a tour in 2019 to mobilise young people and several other events besides. I’m pushing on an open door here, but we need to remember that young people are not depoliticised. They have shown a genuine civic engagement, particularly on environmental issues. But they are faced with a range of political choices that doesn’t represent their values. At a European level, we have a set of skills that reflects young people’s approach to the world. We’ve got the solutions to bring them into this debate. Europavox typically emphasises elements connected to the senses, a way of bringing people together, which allows us to then talk about issues that unite us. After Covid, we’ve seen that people need to come together and this is precisely what Europavox provides. For me, young people are synonymous with tremendous energy. They have great expectations, and our responsibility is to enable these expectations to find a voice in terms of civic actions. I would say that the action Europavox first began seventeen years ago is comparable to the European Capital of Culture project. Europe and culture are two ideas that have been viewed as distant or even elitist for a number of years. The opposite is true: they can bring us together and this is the central idea of our bid. We have included village dances, elderly people playing video games, stand-up shows…
In this approach aimed at bringing European people together, music is a great way of helping people coexist in harmony and to simultaneously experience shared emotions. What approach does your bid take from a musical standpoint?
All types of musical expression are represented. Thylacine, who has been assisting us from the outset, is running a residence project with us. Electro is a very accessible style of music, and it doesn’t require people to speak a particular language if they want to enjoy it – this is actually true for all types of music. Some of our stakeholders are working with Europe Créative (Editor’s note: European Union initiative aimed at the cultural sector) which involves European partnerships.
What do you think of the Europavox Campus project, the number one musical springboard event for European students?
First of all, I think it’s important for students from different countries to meet each other. I like the fact that we’ve left behind the cliché of Erasmus exchanges only ever happening in Barcelona. This is also an experience that strikes me as important due to its immersive nature, which was an aspect that university studies lacked for such a long time. It’s a programme in which students can undertake actions and come together. I love the diversity of nationalities, but also the styles represented: it’s a way of opening two doors at once.
Among the many projects in your bid, can you describe a few you are particularly enthusiastic about?
First of all, there’s Les Compagnies de Colportage, which will be an itinerant network of shows and workshops travelling all around the Massif Central. I’d also like to mention Les Grandes Traversées, which will focus on themes throughout a whole year by promoting cultural programmes and a mixture of different projects across the arts throughout the area. A third project that strikes me as essential: Le Forum des Massifs which is aimed at formalising a way of coming together with people who live in areas similar to ours, such as in the Czech Republic or Portugal. We will make use of the cultural fabric to provide citizens with solutions.
What are you most proud of about this bid?
There’s a lot to be pleased with on a collective basis rather than a personal one. I’m happy to think that we have shown the inhabitants of the Massif Central that we can reach the final stages of the bidding process to become European Capital of Culture, that we are capable of so much more than we previously thought possible. I’m really thankful for that.
You are one of the four towns and cities that have been preselected by the jury. What are the next steps ahead of the final verdict at the end of 2023?
There will be a day-long visit by the jury in October or November. We will show them all of our projects, all of the potential our local area has and most of all how motivated we are! For the evaluation, it’s really important for the jury to get a sense of how the project has been adopted by local stakeholders and the public. We will submit a second dossier, which will be a little more complete than the first one as it will contain the full cultural programme and also because it will be a little more technical with additional details to demonstrate that we are able to follow through on everything we are planning. We will then get the verdict in November or December. So, we’re at a stage where we need to focus on the dossier, which is the central component. If we reach the next stage, we will have four years to turn Clermont-Ferrand into a European capital.
What is an ideal European Capital of Culture in your opinion?
It has to be a hive of cultural activity, of course. Previously, the European Capital of Culture was very much based around heritage, and then gradually social, political and civic factors were added in. As set out in the texts, it has to be an inclusive capital which sets out to provide solutions regarding the major contemporary issues in Europe – the issue of the environment is essential. The idea of citizenship is currently being undermined throughout Europe, so we’ve got to provide solutions that allow people to identify more with this European democracy. Much like Europavox is doing, we would love to create a European public space within which people could meet up and talk. Culture is, of course, the central element, but the cultural programme only represents one of the six points in the selection criteria. For me, it is essential to have an excellent cultural programme, while bearing in mind anything we can think of to help develop the area we live in and share, to nurture our democracy and to ensure that we include as many people as possible.
