 |
| Poster for exhibit outside of City Hall The young girl in the picture is 86 and went to the inauguration of the exhibit. 
The exhibit was a series of photos and films of the events in the days leading up to the August 25, 1944 liberation of Paris. It detailed the wave of strikes, the occupation of the Police Headquarters and City Hall, and the barricades and fighting leading to the ultimate surrender of General Von Choltitz. The exhibit also featured the day to day Orders issued by the FFI (Forces Francaises de l'Interieur (French Forces of the Interior- the French Resistance fighters), as well as the coverage of the liberation by newspapers banned during the occupation.
  
At the barricades in Montmartre
Cover of L'Humanite
 
Barricades- pictures of Hitler and Goebbels
 
Josephine Baker, who assisted the French Resistance, performed after the liberation.
Celebrating Liberation with Josephine Baker
There was also a huge long wall of the exhibit with films taken during the days leading up to the liberation.
  
More screen shots
Of course, the Yanks brought Coca-Cola to Paris.
While not as analytical or fulsome as the exhibit we saw on Sunday at Musee Carnavalet, the pictures and films added to our understanding of the events leading up to the August 25, 1944 liberation.
The second exhibit at L'Hotel de Ville was entitled: The Parisianer a l'Hotel de Ville. The exhibit featured the work of 50 French artists who designed covers for an imaginary magazine called The Parisianer. It was a homage to the famed New Yorker covers. Very clever and well-executed.
|
 |
| The poster for the exhibit |
The following cover had a reference to the striped columns at the Palais Royale.
There was a third exhibit just outside City Hall entitled: 1914-2014 Strategique Foret. The exhibit dealt with the Entrenched Camp of Paris, which was a complex of military works built after 1840 to protect the capital. The forests surrounding Paris played a role in the layout of these works. The exhibit outlined the construction in the late 1800s, the trenches of WWI, and the situation today. The Entrenched Camp began to be demolished in 1919 as the City grew. Few remnants exist today, but the forests provide a green belt around Paris. The exhibit also dealt with the effects of climate change on the forests. There were two huge maps laid out on the pavement in front of City Hall- one from 1914 and one today.
 |
| Poster for Exhibit |
 |
| 1914 map of the Installations around Paris |
 |
| Today's map |
 |
| Demolishing the fortifications after 1919 |
 |
| Mock trench near trees planted for exhibit |
 |
| Trenches built during WWI |
 |
| The Challenge of Climate Change |
City Hall was draped with banners of the Free French (green banner with Croix de Lorraine) to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Paris.
We then went for a late lunch at Le Pain Quotidien- shared a chicken and avocado tartine.
 |
| Lunch at Le Pain Quotidien |
We then walked over to Notre Dame, where we sat outside and watched the crowds.
 |
| Notre Dame Cathedral |
We then headed to Shakespeare and Company for an event. Shakespeare and Company is the wonderful English bookstore that was run by George Whitman (1913-2011) from 1951, and is now run by his daughter Sylvia, who was named after Sylvia Beach who ran the first Shakespeare and Company bookstore. The event was a panel discussion by the five judges of the Man Booker International Prize 2015. The prize has been given every two years since 2005 and is based on a living author's body of work. It is open to all nationalities and is a different prize that the Man Booker Prize for fiction. Alice Munro won in 2009. The judges are Marina Warner, Nadeem Aslam, Elleke Boehmer, Edwin Frank and Wen-chin Ouyang - an illustrious panel, with a huge pedigree. The judges compile their own lists of authors with the assistance of an advisory panel and submissions are not invited. Due to the good weather, the event was held just outside the bookstore and it was taped by the BBC.
The panel discussion was entitled: Writing Home Elsewhere. Marina Warner, who chairs the panel of judges for the Prize, moderated the discussion with a series of questions. There was an interesting discussion of reading books in translation (the authors considered for the Prize must write in English, or be translated into English). Wen-chin Ouyang (she speaks Arabic, Chinese and English-born in Taiwan and raised in Libya) read a small excerpt of a Chinese author's book in Chinese and then the English translation, to make the point that some of the music of the writing is lost in translation.
The panel also discussed how English has the ability to swallow up other languages and how some writers choose to write in English, even if it is a second or third language. We were impressed by the panel and are now looking forward to reading the books of some of its members. Nadeem Aslam told some wonderful stories during the discussion and we browsed some of his books in the bookstore after the event. Definitely now on my to read list.
 |
| Outside Shakespeare and Company (near Saint Michel and the Seine) |
 |
| Sylvia Whitman- now runs the bookstore |
 |
| Marina Warner acted as Moderator of the Panel |
 |
| Nadeem Aslam and Elleke Boehmer |
 |
| Edwin Frank and Wen-chin Ouyang |
 |
| Crowd for event at Shakespeare & Co.
After the panel discussion and questions from the audience, the bookshop served glasses of rose and everyone mingled. Alain and I really enjoyed the event and will definitely follow up on some of the panel members books and look forward to seeing who are the nominees and winner of the 2015 Prize.
We walked back to the apartment for a late fish dinner with potatoes, beans, and wine. A quieter than normal day, but always interesting.
|
Shakespeare and Company is always a place that we book into our plans. Great place with a wonderful history. Thanks for the blog and the photos and the possibilities of reading "new" authors.
ReplyDelete