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2023 · La Marie · Marseille 13th · September to November 2023
la cité aux fleurs
September 2023November 15, 2023
For six weeks, families from the Maison pour tous tell the story of La Marie through mapping, photography, street interviews and writing, then draw the neighborhood of tomorrow.
with the family program of the Maison pour tous des Olives et de La Marie, a community center
la marie
“La Marie is a housing estate in Marseille, in the 13th arrondissement. It’s an estate with its ups and downs, noisy, restless, especially in the evening, but also full of life, of children playing and of creativity.”
In September and October 2023, the families of the Maison pour tous family program walked their neighborhood and went to meet its residents: mapping, film photography, street interviews and writing on photos. The photographs portray the people who make the neighborhood: the pharmacist, the mail carrier, the cafeteria workers, Louis and his rotisserie, the pétanque players, Peggy and her garden, the shared Wednesday meal.
From the text the participants wrote for the exhibition, translated from French.
film photograph
the map
In the center, the Maison pour tous, on avenue des Poilus and its shops; on the right, Les Olives; top left, La Marie, with colorful towers “to make it pretty,” Peggy’s garden and the pharmacy.
It’s a warm, colorful map, we like looking at it.
The hen stands for Monsieur Louis’s rotisserie.
We also put in the two bakeries, including the legendary Rivas: a bakery passed from father to son.
collective mapping, markers, paint and collage
the people who make the neighborhood
Each photograph got its title and its words. We hang them here room by room, as in the exhibition: avenue des Poilus and its shops, Peggy’s garden, the estate and its children, then the pétanque players.
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avenue des poilus
The pharmacy, the bakery, Louis’s rotisserie, the mail carrier and the cafeteria ladies: the people you run into every day.
1.1pharmacie du coeur
When we’re sick, the pharmacist sells us medicine to get better. She’s a big help.
film photograph
1.2à côté de chez louis
My little brother and I took a photo of ourselves in Les Olives, in front of the bakery.
film photograph
1.3le petit commerçant
This shopkeeper is called Louis, and if you ever see his shop, buy a chicken from him, because they’re the best I know.
film photograph
1.4le facteur
This mail carrier is very important because he delivers the most important letters.
film photograph
1.5les cantinières
The canteen ladies on their break.
film photograph02
peggy’s garden
On Wednesdays, Peggy, Dalila, Babeth and Thérèse organize the shared meal before gardening with Le Paysan Urbain, an urban farming association.
2.1peggy
With her good mood and her smile, she brings a big sun and gardens in bloom.
film photograph
2.2l’amant de peggy
The scarecrow wears Peggy’s clothes; she made it to protect the seeds in her magic garden. Every now and then, she comforts it.
film photograph
2.3dalila
This is Dalila, who lives in La Marie. She works in the garden with Peggy.
film photograph
2.4repas partagé
On Wednesdays, Peggy, Dalila, Babeth and Thérèse organize the shared meal together before gardening with the Paysan Urbain.
film photograph
2.5le paysan urbain
The Paysan Urbain (an urban farming group) works with Peggy to lay out the garden. Loïc teaches us lots about plants, flowers and the environment.
film photograph03
at la marie
The sisters outside their building, the playground “for everyone,” the nursing home, Carla, the Maison pour tous.
3.1mes soeurs et moi à la marie
Me and my sisters outside our building. We live in La Marie with Mom.
film photograph
3.2le terrain de jeu de la marie
Mao, Anne, Tom, Niels and other children at the playground in La Marie. Here, it’s for everyone. We even get visits from children from neighboring areas. We can even become friends with them.
film photograph
3.3l’ehpad de la marie
A home for retired and elderly people, where they can rest and be cared for. It’s important to look after older people and not abandon them.
film photograph
3.4carla
She’s very kind and agreed to come and take photographs with us!
film photograph
3.5la mpt du coeur
I discovered the MPT thanks to Hanna. I think she’s a wonderful woman with a big heart. The MPT (“house for all”) lives up to its name. Thanks to her, we find lots of solutions.
film photograph04
the pétanque players
Every day there are people at the court.
les boulistes
Men and women playing pétanque. Every day there are people at the court. It’s a pastime.
film photograph
le passe-temps
A Marseille passion: pétanque. It does you good. I hear them as I go by, laughing, chatting... It’s a really good vibe!
film photograph
les boules qui font du bruit
It was at Les Olives, people were playing pétanque.
film photograph
film photograph
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the large prints
The large prints and the big photo collage, hung on the walls of building 16.
the future
The map of the “turfu” (French back slang for futur, the future) imagines what comes next: vegetable gardens and parks on the abandoned lots, a climbing wall, a skatepark, solar panels on the roofs, more buses and safe crossings so children can get across without danger.
drawing and collage on a photograph
drawing and collage on a photograph
drawing and collage on a photograph
drawing and collage on a photograph
the exhibition
November 15, 2023
On November 15, 2023, the exhibition was hung at the foot of building 16, then inside the Maison pour tous: seven panels of titled, captioned photographs, the introduction, the map of the future and the large prints. The exhibition could also be heard, through short audio pieces.
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- pharmacie du coeur
- carla
- l’ehpad de la marie
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- mes soeurs et moi à la marie
- le terrain de jeu de la marie
- à côté de chez louis
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- les cantinières
- le facteur
- le petit commerçant
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- les boulistes
- le passe-temps
- les boules qui font du bruit
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- peggy
- l’amant de peggy
- dalila
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- la mpt du coeur
- repas partagé
- le paysan urbain
the panels, one by one
the voices
The exhibition’s audio pieces, recorded by the families with the residents of La Marie.
Thérèse2 min 54
Dalila3 min 44
Anaïs1 min 57
the rotisserie man2 min 57
project details
la cité aux fleurs
For six weeks, families from the Maison pour tous tell the story of La Marie through mapping, photography, street interviews and writing, then draw the neighborhood of tomorrow.
- when
- September to November 2023
- where
- La Marie, Marseille 13th
- partners
- Maison pour tous des Olives et de La Marie
- with
- Amir, Bilel, Erwan, Eve, Hannane, Jade, Jibril, Leonart, Louisa, Mahault, Maïssa, Mordem, Nils, Rania, Rose, Sabrinel, Tom, Yacine, Zorah
- mediums
- mapping, photography, street interviews, writing
- public presentation
- Exhibition at the foot of building 16 and inside the Maison pour tous, November 15, 2023, with audio pieces.
- credits
- Photographs, maps, captions and sound: the participants of the family program of the Maison pour tous des Olives et de La Marie, with the mOst team.
next project · 2023
la galerie des ruches →