The OVNi festival (for Objectif Vidéo Nice) inaugurated its tenth edition, on Friday, November 15. Its birth was unusual, since it took place in a hotel, the Windsor, a historic building, but one that has the particularity of having entrusted the design of its rooms to contemporary artists. The idea for this festival came from the owner Odile Redolfi. Originally inspired by the model of the Loop fair in Barcelona (to be held this year from November 19 to 21), it evolved quickly, first bringing together some nearby hotels and then inviting foreign cultural centers based in France to offer artists of their country and, finally, progressively achieving the participation of public or private cultural institutions in the region.
There are more than twenty places that project video, the most western being the notable Center of Photography in Mougins (Alpes-Maritimes), with an impressive exhibition of the African-American artist Bayeté Ross Smith; to the north, the Maeght Foundation, in Saint-Paul-de-Vence, which presents the video made by a student at the Le Fresnoy school, Alexandre Cornet – for this occasion a prize was created, awarded by the Louis Roederer Foundation, which has The objective is to promote projects that combine art and science.
To the west, Rothschild’s Villa Ephrussi, in Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, gives the floor to Hélène Delprat, who recounts, in films and documents, her long relationship with a remarkable woman who had several lives, resistant and then committed to the Free French Forces during the war, then an actress under the name Nicole Stéphane, and finally a film producer and director, with her real surname Nicole de Rothschild. (1923-2007).
Cultural network density
One of the charms of the OVNi festival is also allowing the discovery of places little known to art lovers and revealing the density of the cultural network of the Côte d’Azur. Hence the citadel of Villefranche-sur-Mer (Maritime Alps), a city within a city. A major restoration underway has made it possible to develop surprising spaces that host, within the framework of the Lithuanian Season in France, the artist Emilija Skarnulyte, who gave life to the goddess Thetis, who in Greek mythology personified the fertility of the sea. .
Likewise, if music lovers are familiar with the Lascaris Palace, which houses an exceptional collection of ancient instruments, the occasional presence within its walls of works on loan from the Museum of Contemporary Art in Nice, currently closed for renovations, and installations by the artist Laurence Aëgerter can attract a different audience. Except that, in this specific case, the video is not the main argument of the exhibition, some institutions are associated with the event without embracing the theme.
You have 59.81% of this article left to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.
