Juin 2024

Blank pages

Strasbourg

France

Artistic installation created as part of Strasbourg World Book Capital Unesco 2024

Open from 1 June to 8 September 2024 place du château 67000 Strasbourg, at the foot of the cathedral.
See the full programme

Before there is a book, there is paper. Before the story, there is the blank page, the promising beginning of a new creation. How can we capture that moment before the creative spark, when everything is still possible ? How can we also pay homage to the medium that receives the story : paper ?

Blank pages is an immersive performance art installation devoted to the world of books.

It offers a welcoming and stimulating environment, a blank page for spontaneous or planned expression and appropriation: reading, writing, storytelling, illustration, film, music, etc.

The installation develops an aesthetic and an imaginary world inspired by the places where paper is produced, from traditional mills to industrial paper factories. It reinterprets the tools and steps of paper production as elements of scenography and comfort.

On the floor a long ribbon of wood evokes the silhouette of the paper roll production lines, with its presses and cylinders diverted into seats with varied postures. High up, large hanging canvases recall the sheets hanging from the ceilings of the dryers, acting as shades.

The installation takes the form of a large, simple, identifiable volume, held together by a tubular structure with a central patio suitable for hosting events and community activities. The existing fountain is integrated into the space ; active during the day, it enlivens the space and brings freshness and playfulness.

On either side of the patio, a range of furniture and platforms invite visitors to relax and read, take part in an activity or enjoy a show : seats, deckchairs, hammocks, podiums…

The furniture includes bookcases that residents and visitors are invited to fill, based on the principle of book boxes.

The public is also encouraged to interact, by taking hold of the supports available – the long white ribbon of the furniture-machinery or the white books placed in the libraries – to write or draw, and thus create a collective narrative.

To take the practice of books and reading a step further, the installation is transformed into a giant bedroom at night and becomes the setting for a new and unforgettable reading experience. Reading before going to sleep, a banal and intimate ritual, is transposed into the public space to become an extraordinary and shared act.

Strasbourg World Book Capital Unesco 2024

The World Book Capital label, awarded for the first time to a French city and for at least ten years, is awarded each year by UNESCO to a city committed to promoting books and reading in all its forms and at all ages of life, to combat illiteracy and inequality in a rapidly changing world. The designated towns must meet a twofold objective: to sharpen critical thinking, while at the same time accentuating dialogue between cultures, and to roll out a series of unifying events. In keeping with UNESCO’s values, the city of Strasbourg is mobilising to roll out its project entitled Reading our world.