The Board of Directors of ‘M28 – Terres de culture’ met today in Sète, at the invitation of François Commeinhes, Mayor of Sète and President of Sète Agglopôle Méditerranée. A new phase of experimentation is beginning throughout the M28 territory with the construction of Event 25 – Living trails and the organisation of public meetings that will punctuate the programming throughout the year, before sharing a week of celebrations in Autumn 25.
M28 – Terres de culture : A cooperation in several acts
All the partner communities were represented. Montpellier Méditerranée Métropole, Sète Agglopôle, the Occitanie Region, the DRAC Occitanie, Agglo Hérault Méditerranée, the Vallée de l’Hérault and Grand-Pic-Saint-Loup Communities of Communes, Lunel Agglo and the Ville of Grau-du-roi came together to finalise the programme for Event 2025 – Living trails.
Sophie Léron, President of M28 and Nicolas Dubourg, Artistic Director of M28, presented a progress report on the construction of Event 2025 – Living trails. Since June 2024, the M28 association has brought together many of the territory’s cultural players to draw up the Living trails programme, starting out from seven key sites in the region, stretching from the Mosson in Montpellier to the Chais in Sète, from Aniane Abbey to Château Laurens, via the Sana in Grau du Roi, the Source du Lez and the Canal de Lunel.
Starting in the coming weeks, artists will be welcomed in residencies at a number of venues, and will engage in artistic approaches that encourage encounters and participation by local residents, research and co-writing with scientists or players from non-cultural sectors, and cross-fertilisation of approaches between heritage, live performance and all the CCIs, in conjunction with specialists in inclusion, social issues, health and education. The approach involves the CCI, the universities, the Rectorat and the CHU of Montpellier.
Event 25 – Living trails
Drawing on the strategy deployed by M28 Terres de culture, which sees culture as a powerful force for transforming the territory, project promoters commit to a cultural project in and with the territory’s key venues, involving cultural, artistic and scientific partners who share this proximity and relationship with the region, and linking artistic disciplines with a wide range of cultural practices (cooking, sports, social activities, etc.).
Event 25 is an unprecedented experiment bringing together players from the cultural sector and other sectors on a vast scale, with more than 65 artists, researchers and scientists involved. Over the course of a year, using a map with seven cardinal points located in each of the partner territories, artists in residency will carry out artistic investigations, going out to meet local people and, more broadly, the living world, to produce artistic events. The public will be invited to link these cardinal points by making various stops along the way.
Seven major dates, punctuated by dozens of cross-disciplinary events, from 26 September to 5 October 2025:
- 7 territories
- 7 key locations
- 7 major events
- Dozens of related one-off events
- Associated artistic or research residencies
- Residents in action
- Partners throughout all the “M28 – Terres de culture” territory
- Artistic events at stations across the area in partnership with SNCF Gares et connexions
- A handover with the Euro-Africa biennial on the weekend of 4 and 5 October
Rendez-vous M28 at the Hôtel d’Aurès
The launch of the Rendez-vous M28 “LET’S TALK ABOUT TOMORROW – Act, connect and celebrate with the living world” has been confirmed. The cycle of monthly meetings is part of Event 25 – Living trails. The aim of these meetings is to bring together professionals and members of the public involved in the M28 approach and to share ideas on M28 themes. One Monday a month, two guest speakers – artists, researchers or project leaders – are invited to discuss thematic issues at the Hôtel d’Aurès in Montpellier, the beating heart of M28.
The launch will take place on Monday 2 December 2024 at 6pm at the Hôtel d’Aurès in Montpellier on the theme of ‘Fiction at the service of the public’ with Pascal Ferren, Philosopher and Urban Planner, nominated for the Prix COAL 2024, and Marie Boissard, Designer with the Sismo agency.
Finally, Christian Assaf, Regional Councillor for the Occitanie Region, has been appointed Vice-President of the M28 – Terres de culture association following the election of Claire Fita as a Member of the European Parliament. Claire Fita, who has held the post of Vice-President of M28 since its creation, has renewed her support and commitment to the continuation of the M28 dynamic and cooperation between territories in favour of culture.
© Ville de Sète