In Provence, working is also living
Those who have chosen to start a business here will tell you: Provence is a land of success because Provence is a land where one lives…well! When you set up business in Provence you become part of a vibrant cultural life and share in the beauty and bounty of nature and the pleasure of outdoor activities under the sun. Thus it is no coincidence that the most advanced new technology or research companies have moved here. Today’s entrepreneurs know that the quality of life, in a rich natural and cultural environment, promotes success, motivates and inspires people and attracts talent. Today working and living go together.
Your may be busy keeping up with eight appointments a day, managing a team or organizing a seminar.. Here in Provence, you will not resist the Calanques in Cassis, the arena theater in Arles, an evening at the Festival d’Art Lyrique in Aix-en-Provence! That's what The Provence Partnership is all about!
Marseille-Provence Metropolis « 2013 European Capital of culture »
As of 2004, the City of Marseille and the Communauté Urbaine Marseille Provence Métropole, with the support of the Conseil Général of Bouches-du-Rhone, decided to submit the candidacy of the city of Marseille for the title of “2013 European Capital of Culture”.
In order to present an economically and culturally coherent application, the city of Marseille fully included 130 municipalities in the project, by federating an area stretching from Arles to Hyères. Thus the members of the jury for the “2013 European Capital of Culture” competition have awarded an entire region and a long-term effort.
The jury was convinced by the project’s originality and by its federating and Euro-Mediterranean dimension in support of the immense potential of the territory.
A unifying project. The project is built around "Euro Mediterranean Workshops" designed to perpetuate the area’s cultural development beyond the 2013 event. 250 Workshops are organized under the auspices of the Marseille-Provence 2013 Association to work on two major themes:
- internationally, on the theme of "Meetings between Europe and the Mediterranean;
- locally on the theme of the role of art in public spaces.
Cultural associations and institutions, schools, as well as the area's businesses are invited to attend the meetings.
A Euro-Mediterranean project. Marseille, a long-time meeting point at the convergence of Mediterranean cultures, has positioned itself as a multicultural figure in a future “Mediterranean Union” that will bring together Northern and Southern Mediterranean countries.
A major opportunity for the area. The cultural explosion, the prestigious achievements, the growing public awareness attached to the title of 2013 European Capital of Culture, are all tremendous opportunities for companies wishing to attract high-level competencies as they meet their requirement for a good quality of life.
A diversified cultural wealth
A few figures
Marseille-Provence Metropole offers :
- 61 museums
- Nearly 100 annual festivals with audiences of over 600,000, which makes Marseille Provence Métropole one of the leading centers for performing arts in France
- 38 theaters with audiences of over 500,000 (the highest theater audience after Paris)
Cultural renewal
Marseilles’ cultural revival is thriving. Circus performances, street arts, poetry, dance, digital arts, music from around the world, today’s music have all come to enrich the "traditional" cultural repertoire which made the region famous. Marseille has also become one of the capitals of rap music.
International festivals such as the Aix-en-Provence Festival d'Art Lyrique, the Roque d’Anthéron Piano Festival, performances by the Ballet National de Marseille or Ballet Preljocaj in Aix-en Provence, coexist with more popular events such as the Marsatac Festival, the Gypsy Pilgrimage in Saintes-Maries de la Mer, the Iberian-flavored Feria in Arles, the Dance, Music and Voice of the World Festival in Martigues or the now world-famous Fiesta des Suds, a symbol of cultural renewal and ultimate means of social integration which makes the city vibrate to the sounds of world music each fall.
Places dedicated to alternative and modern culture are emerging alongside national theaters and museums like the Château des Baux de Provence Museum, the Granet Museum or Cezanne’s Studio in Aix-en-Provence, the Théâtre de la Criée in Marseille or Théâtre des Salins in Martigues. Young artists are taking over abandoned sites such as the former SNCF workshops in Arles or the Friche de la Belle de Mai in Marseille.
Here, the exclusive so-called "educated” culture never conflicts with popular culture. Provence has always been melting pot of civilizations, mixing genres with skill and harmony.
In Provence artistic passions are always in the plural form!
Major cultural projects
Major cultural projects, planned or in progress, will transform and energize the area and make it particularly attractive:
Since Le Corbusier’s Radiant City, few big names in contemporary architecture had left their mark on the city. Euroméditerranée, the largest operation of urban rehabilitation in Metropolitan France, has entrusted the design and building of the Museum of European and Mediterranean Civilizations (MuCEM) to Rudy Riciotti.
In Arles the rehabilitation of the old SNCF Workshops, destined to become the Parc des Ateliers (a cultural city dedicated to photography) will be conducted by famous architect Frank Gehry, who designed the now legendary Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao. Arles could benefit from the operation in the same way that the capital of Vizcaya gained international visibility and now enjoys new economic prosperity.
Other projects and developments are underway, including:
- The 1,300-seat Grand Théâtre de Provence, designed by architect Vittorio Gregotti and inaugurated in 2007 in Aix-en-Provence;
- The Joliette old grain silos being converted into an auditorium in Marseille;
- The creation of a Cité des arts de la rue (City of Street Arts) in Marseille
- The rehabilitation of the Marcel Pagnol’s Chateau de Buzine in Marseille, which hosts the Maison des Cinématographies (Moviemaking House) of the Mediterranean.
Some of the 2009 events
Provence is the venue of prestigious exhibitions. Among them, "Cézanne 2006” in Aix-en-Provence had a record attendance of 440,000 visitors in three months and the Van Gogh-Monticelli exhibit in Marseille is expecting 300,000 visitors.
The 2009 main event will be the "Picasso Cezanne” exhibit in Aix-en-Provence. Works on loan from public collections in France and Germany, Great Britain, Switzerland, the United States, Russia, the Netherlands, Denmark, Japan, as well as loans from private collections will be exhibited
In the summer of 2009, the Vauvenargues Chateau, near Aix-en-Provence, former residence of Pablo Picasso and his wife Jacqueline between 1959 and 1965, will be exceptionally open to the public.
In September, an unprecedented archaeological find, a bust of Emperor Caesar uncovered in the Rhone river near Arles during a 2007 summer excavation, will be displayed at the Antique Arles Museum following examination and treatment.
