Peter's Grand Tour

The journey to Nice and the Côte d’Azur took me along the coast via Cannes and Antibes. I’ve been to Antibes before. The old town is beautiful and the boats in the harbour are to die for. Going through Cannes on the train was vile. Horrible buildings and beaches crammed so hideously full of people. I’m glad I just passed through.

The rest of the scenery had plenty to offer: mountains (maybe the Alps or Pyrenees - my geography is not so good, but I know they’re French), sea, sand, fortresses on hilltops, new towns, old towns, and you guessed.... trees and greenery.

We stopped in Toulon for two hours and were greeted with an announcement that due to forest fires we would be delayed. My plan to stroll around Nice, paddle in the sea and have a Chardonnay in the sun was quashed. Instead I went straight from the train station to the airport to be met with an announcement that there was a four and a half hour delay for my flight which would now leave at 02h15. Why did they close the bar and shops at 21h45?

Not a good chapter in this travelogue, except that when I arrived in Nice I was pleased that the smell of urine had left my nostrils. For a moment I was concerned that it was me that smelt; not the streets of Marseille.

Nice is also bidding for the Capital of Culture title in 2013.

I know security at airports is important, but things are getting ridiculous when you can’t take a 180ml, sealed pot of jelly on a plane. It seemed unfair that the woman in front of me was allowed to take on board two large and two small pieces of hand luggage - and a child. Once on board I was again fortunate in getting a seat with extra leg room... and another screaming child directly behind. Is this obligatory? That jelly would’ve come in handy...

Marseille is a beautiful city, stunning architecture, well planned, a picturesque old port, 14th century fortresses and very ‘French’. The soundtrack of Amelie played in my imagination as I walked through the back streets. It is also a city that has spiralled downwards economically and has high levels of unemployment; there is an undercurrent of ‘edginess’ and there are a lot of run down areas in desperate need of regeneration. There’s a thriving youth culture, and the city is rich in its multi-culturalism. It has social and political issues that need addressing, but it has an incredible optimism. It is rich in culture with signs for ‘Théâtre de (loads of venues)’ on almost every street corner.

It is therefore a strong candidate for Capital of Culture 2013. It has links with Liverpool and there are similarities on numerous levels.

Marseille met four of my four aims of the sabbatical. The first being a tour of La Frîche, the most amazing Creation Centre. Established by Philippe Foulquié in 1990 and opened in 1992, it is two kilometres from the old port, 500m from the train station and it occupies 160,000 square metres of an old tobacco factory. It was ‘given’ to La Frîche by the municipality to develop, and for the cultural industries to contribute to the economy. It is a huge success. I gathered too much information to detail here, but a few observations... At any one time there are around 200-300 people working in La Frîche. It has over 40 arts organisations and individual artists housed there. During my visit there were two enormous design exhibitions in the vast spaces. Activities take place in several buildings on 6 floors - and the floors are massive. There are making spaces, 20 artists’ studios on three floors, a cabaret venue, music venue, small studio, restaurant, radio station.... Plus a TV/Film studio occupying a building across the street, and artists’ accommodation contained in a mansion. I met several artists and visited all of the exhibitions.

I’m grateful to Philippe Foulquié for spending the afternoon with me to tell me about La Frîche's beginnings, its aims, ambitions, and for taking me on a tour. I told him of SMAC and our plans for developing a centre in Liverpool. He is interested in developing links with us, so we are both going to speak to Sir Bob soon.

The visit was an inspiration and I’m looking forward to passing on more information to the Creation Centre Action Group back in Liverpool.

I also met the team that is putting the 2013 bid together and was hosted by Cyril Brunet a real bundle of enthusiasm and energy who is a real asset, not only to the team but to the city. We discussed the Cities on the Edge programme and he put me in touch with other artists, arranged my meeting with M. Foulquié and told me about the bid and the process involved - stakeholder meetings with all types of groups in Marseille, developing social projects to engage creativity, working closely with artists and arts organisations in developing ideas for the bid... It sounded familiar, a similar process to that undertaken by Liverpool (1999-2003).

I urge Marseille to continue these discussions after the bid is won...

I was delighted to be taken to lunch by the bid team and discussed in detail, with Philippe Campos, Marseille’s plans. It was one of the highlights of the Grand Tour and more than satisfied my gastronomic needs. It reiterated why France has the reputation as the world’s greatest cuisine. An aperitif of Pastis went down a treat, followed by mussels and a home-made smoked haddock and potato stew (it had a much more poetic name in French), followed by lamb’s intestines stuffed with other meats. My hosts were saddened, I think that I didn’t reel in disgust, but I’ll eat anything seemingly strange, and so wolfed it down. We finished with two desserts. This was accompanied by a rosé wine. The restaurant was described to me as a real working class restaurant. It was run by two sisters, real characters and comediennes, so charming and down to earth. I suggested that when the 2013 jury visits, they are brought here for lunch. It was perfect. (But I still prefer the Turkish cuisine).

So, three aims fulfilled: Creation Centre, Cities on the Edge, Capitals of Culture. The fourth... Me time: Actually I only spent three hours on the beach. I spent the rest of the time walking around the city, window shopping, having the odd glass of wine - and typing up loads of notes from meetings in Portugal that I’d neglected to do for reasons explain in Chapter 15: Liverpool (unplanned).

Several people I met during my stay told me how dirty the city is. I realised just how bad it was when I walked around in the evening. There was a stench of urine in almost every doorway, there was a lot of litter and rubbish waiting to be collected. I talked with Cyril Brunet about Liverpool’s G-litter campaign in 2003 and how the idea was good but that there was no commitment to continuing it... I wondered why? As I left Marseille I waited on the steps of Gare St Charles for my train to Nice. There was still the smell of urine in my nostrils

This is a beautiful city, north of Porto with a population of around 100,000. It is the birthplace of Portugal and will share the title of Capital of Culture in 2012 with Maribor, Slovenia. Unlike the usual competition that leads to the awarding of the title, Portugal chose not to request its candidates to submit a bid to become Capital of Culture. So, Guimaraes was awarded the title and is now developing its programme under the direction of Paula Aiexixo who was one of the key executives for Porto in 2001.

I visited the impressive Vila Flor Cultural Centre, inaugurated in 2005 and met the Artistic Director José Bastas who explained how the centre is encouraging discussion with local, regional and national artists via focus groups as to how the artistic programme for 2012 should develop. He outlined the centre’s role in encouraging emerging and artists locally and regionally to develop their work creatively and how the centre and its facilities can assist in their growth. There is no work being produced in the city and there are strategies to change this.

The afternoon was hosted by Tiago Andrade, a dynamic young arts executive who was responsible for hosting nternational and national artists in 2001. He is employed in an executive position at the Vila Flor. His expertise and knowledge of what went right and what didn’t in 2001 will be essential to the success of 2012.

He explained the arts infrastructure of the nothern region and the Vila Flor’s role in the lead up to 2012. He also treated us to a three course lunch which included a bottle of (seemingly endless) green wine.

Both Tiago and José felt that a city’s status as Capital of Culture should be a 10 year process - 4 years leading up to the year and 5 that follow - that it should not be a one year event.

It will be interesting to see how lessons learnt from 2001 will impact on 2012 as it will be interesting to see how a city that didn’t bid to become its country’s Capital of Culture develop its plans. Perhaps the 10 year model might be worth considering for future cities...

It was not all talk and culture. I managed a short tour of the city, a beer and martini (an odd combination) in the city’s pretty and bustling square, and a couple of hours at a swimming pool just outside the centre. As the school holidays had just started, it was full of children. I wished I’d remembered to bring my minidisk to drown out the relentless noise.

Good start. I got a seat with extra leg room. This is the third time that I got moved to a better seat. A golden tan, charm and a bright smile go a long way with the trolley dollies... I thought I’d have a G&T but the gin was served in a sachet, so I couldn’t. I sat in front of a screaming baby. Why aren’t children put in the hold of the plane?

The temperature was cooler than I’d been used to - 25 degrees. By the third day it had hit 40.

Claire Binyon and the Currin Clan - Gary (dad), John (aged 8 and 362 days) and Daniel (aged 2 years, 11 months) were my wonderful hosts. The kids are just brilliant. Claire is Head of Department at the theatre school, ESMAE and coordinated my schedule. They’ve lived here for 12 years and it was really good to spend time with them.

A small group of Liverpool’s artistic community had descended on Porto. Paula Simms had directed a play here. Patrick Dineen had composed the music and John Burke was visiting. Lee Beagley has been spending a lot of time here and considers Porto as one of Europe’s main centres of arts and culture...

Porto was Capital of Culture in 2001. There was a three year build up to it. The year was a big success. Lots of exciting projects, international productions, financial enhancement for every theatre’s artistic programme (the National Theatre’s budget was increased from 5 million Euros to 8 million), and a street theatre programme and related training course resulted in performances seen by up to 10,000 people.

Since 2001 Porto’s artistic infrastructure has collapsed. 2001 is cited as a disaster, arts managers stating that it would have been better for the city if Capital of Culture had never happened. It appears that the change in local government from left to right is at the core of the problems, that since 2001 investment in culture has been marginalised.

I met 10 or so individuals and/or organisations that had been part of the 2001 programme. It was unanimously felt that there had been no thought as to the years that followed, there was no strategy that led to the year and certainly no plan for subsequent years and it is now a ‘cultural desert’.

As in Istanbul, Pécs and Budapest I was again commended for undertaking this research and encouraged that the setting up of SMAC (the small/medium arts collective) is seen as an important movement. It would seem that in Porto there was a will to strengthen the small/medium sized infrastructure but in the mainstream this didn’t happen. However the impulse is there, as shown by the underground movement MDF - a co-operative of small companies formed by ESMAE graduates and currently occupying an abandoned factory owned by the school.

I met with Isabel Alves Costa who was responsible for the theatre programme in 2001 and was, until recently Artistic Director of the Rivoli Theatre, the municipal theatre dedicated to programming innovative, ground breaking work. The theatre was recently taken over by a private producer and now presents Jesus Christ Superstar. There is now no publicly funded small scale venue that presents theatre or dance that pushes the boundaries or influences the creation of new work.

I’m grateful to José Luis Ferreira, International Arts Director at the National Theatre, for providing me with a potted history of Portuguese theatre and for his insight into what went wrong with 2001. There are a number of opportunities for develop links between Porto and Liverpool (cities with a number of similarities) and there is a commitment from a number of arts managers and artists in both cities. The National Theatre is keen to develop these links, as are Claire Binyon and Gary Currin at ESMAE and John Burke and Paula Simms at Zho Theatre. We’re talking about a project under the banner of Building Bridges to realise this ambition.

I also had meetings with Xico Beja who set up the ESMAE school which provides a four year vocational degree course, Julio Moreira who worked on the 2001 programme and is now the Producer at the Casa da Musica, Alberto Magno Director of Festival de Fabrica and Joclécio Azevedo, Director of Nucleu Experimental Coreografica an association of dance practitioners. All of them had stories to tell about the expectation of 2001, the excitement of the year and the ‘catastrophe’ that followed.

It would appear that the only legacies that 2001 provided was the monumental and successful (artistically and commercially) Casa da Musica; and the second stage that was developed by the National Theatre (even though they have to run two venues now, on the same money that they received in 1999 when they only had one...). The other benefit of 2001 was that artists and arts managers developed their skills. It’s sad though that so many could not sustain their theatre companies or secure work and have now moved to other cities. In the lead up to 2001 there were 15 independent theatre companies. In the years that followed 10 folded. 5 now remain, but only 2 are in receipt of (a tiny amount of) funding, and it would appear can only exist thanks to co-producing with the National Theatre.

Take note future Capital Cities of Culture.

I applaud the artists and arts managers that have stayed with the city and I sympathise with those that felt there was no option for them but to leave. There is an optimism, demonstrated by several people I met, not least Helder Sousa and Xico Beja, that there will be a turn in Porto’s artistic fortunes and that young artists, frustrated by the neglect shown by the politicians and events that followed 2001 will result in a stronger artistic infrastructure.

But why should they have to fight to achieve artistic excellence? Why, following being Capital of Culture is culture so marginalised? Why elevate a city to such cultural highs only to dash hopes, aspirations and creativity? It shouldn’t happen. Measures should be put in place to ensure artistic growth. Otherwise what’s it all for?

Advice to Liverpool which was repeated often by artists and arts managers is to ensure that expertise is kept in the city, that the infrastructure is developed, to think beyond 2008, to invest in what exists, invest in local artists, emerging artists and work that pushes the boundaries.

In terms of balancing ‘me time’ and work, Porto was perfect. Four days of meetings, four days of doing bugger all. At one point I was so relaxed that I set out to buy green wine in my slippers. I had to double check to make sure I’d put my shorts on. The green wine is not green but is bottled before it has fully fermented. It’s a sparkling, low alcohol (12 per cent) white wine. Nice to drink in the afternoon. I got a bit piddled on it several times. It’s a bit like Concorde. I also spent John’s 9th birthday eating chocolate cake, burgers, crisps and popcorn. We went Ten Pin Bowling. I came fifth. Daniel came 2nd and he’s only 2.