Le Bazar Roulant has rolled to close! Saturday, May 17 marked the final date of the tour under the big circus tent at Salles du Gardon. It was the last weekend for the team: following our sojourn with Mas d’Espinas, we made our way “home” to La Grand’Combe and set up for the final time of the project.
In conjunction with Les Journées du Cirque (a festival surrounding circus and acrobatics), we presented our selection of short films on Friday and Saturday, set ou our free market in front of the Grande’Combe town hall, held upcycling workshops for children and presented a concert and a DJ (DJ geranium ) in the evening.
Les Journées du Cirque also presented two great performances by professional circus performers, a end-of-workshop show by 6th graders from Larguier Leo College, as well as a concert performed by La Grand’Combe music school. All the performances attracted large audiences from surrounding villages, filling the circus tent stands.
To conclude the event – and the whole festival, for that matter, Belgium singer-songwriter Clara joined us to play a musical repertoire entitled Chomeuse go on, a play on words meaning ‘Unemployment’ must go on. She played both cynically and provocatively, mixing vocas, accordion and gypsy guitar.
The Moviemiento team left last Sunday… a beautiful partnership, nice encounters and a renewed desire to start another project together. A project well done, well worn and well lived well by our team… which fluctuated between 25 and 35 people. A remake is certainly on the cards, but a little later and after a well deserved rest!
Each organisation returns to their duties a little less collectively. Atelier T.O.U.P.I.E. plans to ride the wave of international success of the festival and the Givebox activations! The demand is huge; municipalities and other institutions love the idea and are keen to learn more about, and implement, the concepts of community solidarity, citizenship and the art of giving and exchanging! The association is already in the process of recruiting a dozen employees to fulful this incredible demand for innovative and original Givebox constructions!
Okay… so maybe this is a while coming yet… But the important thing is that idea has already come a long way and touched people like we never imagened it would. And touched us too, for that matter. Action Hummingbird for a more cohesive and less capitalist society!
Movimiento has projects under way in Germany and elsewhere, La Fée Nadou is currently hosting clown school and has a chock-a-block calendar. Atelier T.O.U.P.I.E. has always, and still, plans to set up a recycling center in La Grand’Combe – the project has injected this plan with even more purpose. There are plans too to facilitate upcycling workshops with children, so watch this space.
We will continue to post things from time to time as a reminder of our travels, those people we met, and the experienced we collected.
Thank you to all those who took part. It was an amazing journey. A true bizarre.
