Carré Sainte-Anne

It was a beautiful day, so after school I decided to take advantage of it by walking and doing a bit of sight seeing. Before I went too far, I needed to have a bite to eat. I came upon a restaurant I've passed many times before called II Nome and thought I'd try it. It was lovely - vaulted ceilings, good service and a delicious meal of daurade (sea bream), a vegetable medley, (the first vegetables I've had that were not overcooked) and a few tasty potato fritters. Of course, the wine was wonderful too.

Pleasantly replete, I walked to l'Arc de Triomphe before making my way back to the Carré Saint-Anne. My prof suggested that I go there to see a free art exposition. This space is in an old Gothic church that fell into disrepair, but was subsequently transformed into a cultural and contemporary art centre in 2011. 

The expositions at this centre are produced by the Directorate of Culture and Heritage of the city of Montpellier under the artistic direction of Numa Hambursin. The current exposition is called "l'œil et le cœur 2". 

It certainly was contemporary, interesting and different. One set of photographs really intrigued me. it was a series of 7 photos called "What if?" by Boushra Almutawakel (see top pictures below). Each photo has the same man and woman in it, but in the first one, the woman is completely covered in a burka and the man is dressed in white robes. As you move to the next one, her eyes are exposed. In the 3rd, you can see her face. In the 4th, the man's white robes are off. In the next 3 pictures, the man lands up wearing different parts of the burka until he is completely covered. At the same time, the woman becomes more exposed so that by the last photo she is wearing normal garb and a great big smile. I thought it was very clever. 

Other art pieces on display.

The sculpture below was interesting too. Depending on where you stood to look at it, the shape changed. You really had to check it out from all angles.

Montpellier is a cultural hub for art, theatre, music and cinema. There are several art schools here and each time I have been to one of the galleries or expositions, there have been groups of students in attendance accompanied by their prof. I am also surprised by the number of people that frequent these galleries. It was a Thursday afternoon around 2:30 p.m. and there was a steady stream of people coming and going. It's wonderful to think that the arts scene is so vibrant and well supported.