CRÉMAILLÈRE DE LA MARTINERIE

The programme for La Martinerie is ready!
Save the date: 30 October for the housewarming party, from 4 pm to 7 pm.

What’s it all about?
La Martinerie is a space for discovery, creation and knowledge-sharing dedicated to living things, which is currently being set up.
Located in Saint-Germain-de-Calberte, in the heart of the Cévennes National Park, it will bring together:

a small library (art books, comics, children’s and adult books) centred on the natural world,
a space for artist residencies dedicated to writing and visual arts (authors, illustrators, comic book artists),
opportunities for sharing: workshops, meetings, presentations, exhibitions,
a radio programme called *Des livres au vert*
La Martinerie is designed as an open space, closely connected with local residents, artists and the local area.

Who is it for?
La Martinerie is aimed at local residents, visitors and passing walkers, artists and authors in residence, and educational, cultural and environmental organisations.

Why?
– To foster connections and a shared spirit of collaboration, and to explore the natural world in a sensitive and artistic way, through workshops, meetings, illustrated walks, story-collecting sessions, public presentations and opportunities for sharing.

– To support on-site creation, by enabling artists working with narrative and imagery to develop works directly inspired by the Cévennes environment: terraced fields, chestnut groves, watercourses, legends, local stories…

– To create a cultural space accessible to all, centred on comics, graphic narratives and imaginaries linked to nature.

– To strengthen the connection to living things and the natural environments of the Cévennes National Park, by embedding artistic creation – and comic books in particular – in an intimate relationship with the forest, the landscapes, and the flora and fauna.

How?
La Martinerie comes to life through a space structured around three key concepts: reading, creating, sharing and passing on knowledge. These dimensions intertwine to offer a sensory experience of the living world, rooted in the Cévennes region.

Firstly, reading, through a ‘micro-library of life’, conceived as a space for discovery and curiosity. Accessible to all, it offers multiple perspectives on biodiversity, landscapes, science, the imagination and the relationships between humans and non-humans.

Next, creation, through hosting several artists each year in residence. La Martinerie provides them with a space for writing and visual creation nestled in the heart of the forest, overlooking the village of Saint-Germain-de-Calberte. These periods of immersion foster encounters between artistic practices, the natural environment and local life. The artists run discovery and creative workshops for local residents, as well as sessions to share insights into their creative processes.

Sharing, ultimately, by placing central importance on the spoken word and collective memory. Each residency provides an opportunity to produce a collective podcast, recorded in the style of a radio programme. The podcast is then published on the Arte Radio Blog platform and made accessible via a QR code printed on a postcard designed by the artist: an object to take home with you, to preserve a sensory and auditory fragment of the Cévennes.