Action!

At first glance, fun and social engagement may not seem like a natural pairing. But it’s a promising path forward at La Gaîté Lyrique, which seeks to break down barriers between practices and audiences. The artists, thinkers and activists central to the programming at Factory of our times all have one thing in common: they speak their mind. They make their voices – and those of minorities and causes too often overlooked – heard in different ways, through words, music, dance, and the visual arts.

➔ Chassol
15.09–22.12
Christophe Chassol – musician, composer and arranger – reinterprets the Gaumont film catalogue through contemporary eyes in an exhibition, concert and screening series at the crossroads of music and cinema. Les Marguerites Gaumont is a piece comprising clips from 15 films, which Chassol has reworked, set to music, arranged and edited to make what he calls “ultrascores.”

➔ Viva Villa
20.10
Every year, ¡Viva Villa! surveys the contemporary creative landscape, presenting the work of artists who have taken part in four artistic residencies at French institutions outside France: Casa de Velázquez (Madrid), Villa Albertine (United States), Villa Kujoyama (Kyoto) and Villa Médicis (Rome). The artists’ research comes into focus through interdisciplinary dialogue, talks with the residents, and screenings, as well as special performances and concerts.

➔ Guardians of the forest
02.12 
ARTE’s momentous documentary series takes us to the Amazon, Africa, Oceania, Asia and North America to explore and understand the issues facing five of the globe’s major primary forests, through the eyes of five representatives of indigenous peoples. Preview showings of the documentary will be given at a very special event with the five guardians, a week before the broadcast on ARTE.

➔ SACRe Festival
17–19.11 
A pioneering French research-creation program at PSL University, SACRe brings together a community of young artists and researchers attuned to our changing world and engaged in practice-based research. This year, SACRE is celebrating its tenth anniversary in the company of 120 artists, with a multidisciplinary exhibition, events and screenings.

➔ Paris Podcast Festival
13 & 14.10 
For the past six years, the Paris Podcast Festival has been circled on the calendar by everyone who loves making and listening to podcasts. It’s a great opportunity for creators, producers and the audience to put their minds together towards the future of podcasting. This year’s theme, “Keeping your ears open,” which fuses elements from past editions, will channel the PPF’s passion for voices and stories that can’t be heard anywhere else.

➔ Et maintenant ?
21.10
This autumn, ARTE and France culture will hold the third edition of Et maintenant ?, an international festival of ideas for tomorrow that asks, “What now?”, supported by the French National Research Agency. It’s a forward-looking event that provides a backdrop for a participative approach to connections, discussions and workshops together with scores of authors, philosophers, directors, scientists and artists from myriad backgrounds.

➔ Mon Premier Festival
25–31.10 
Mon Premier Festival (My First Festival), an event initiated by the City of Paris and organized by the Enfances au Cinéma association, is back for its 19th year with more than 100 films in 12 independent cinemas in Paris, along with Forum des Images and La Gaîté Lyrique. The festival features a competition, sneak previews, newly released films, and events, plus a few surprises! Families and audiences of all ages are welcome.

➔ ARTE Concert Festival
02-04.11 
Another year, another selection of up-and-coming artists, alongside rock, rap and electronic heavyweights who continue to push their art forward, to watch live at La Gaîté Lyrique or from home. ARTE Concert Festival is in step with the times, a chance to experience a concert at your own speed – streaming live or at your leisure, or in the front row on the night of the recording. Line-up TBA.

➔ The Halloween Party Ball II
28.10 
Pour son grand rendez-vous de l'automne à la Gaîté Lyrique, la scène ballroom se réunit pour un ball de circonstance et d’anthologie. Au programme : Halloween, évidemment ! L’icône du voguing américain Jack Gorgeous Gucci et la légende du voguing européen Vinii Revlon allient leurs forces pour faire monter sur scène, dans une compétition qui s'annonce très chaude, les meilleurs danseurs et les meilleures danseuses de la planète voguing.

Every day, La Gaîté Lyrique opens up the floor to authors, artists, media figures, thinkers, activists and associations, to ponder the big questions of our time. Evenings from Tuesday to Friday are a time to listen and share thoughts on topics such as feminist and gender revolutions, society and the living world, or to share effective ways to take a stand – a place to celebrate personal breakthroughs and collective struggles.

With: 
➔ feminism and gender La Déferlante, Gaze, Censored, Cheek Magazine, Nouvelles Lunes, Music Queens (ARTE)
➔ society Binge Audio, Futurs et migrations (SINGA), Contre-enquête et regard civil, T’as de beaux lieux 
➔ climate and environment Balance ton flip (makesense), Utopiennes 

& many more to come

➔ Jour de Play
Created in March 2021, Jour de Play offers new perspectives and insights on video games and how gaming – from indies to AAA blockbusters – tells the story of our world. Produced by Iko and hosted by Quineapple, Gautoz, Medoc and Moodie, ARTE’s first magazine show developed for Twitch is returning for a fourth season, streamed in front of a live audience at La Gaîté Lyrique.

➔ ARTE Book Club
Hosted by Jeanne Seignol from the YouTube channel “Jeannot se livre,” alongside show creator Bruno de Labriolle from “Le Mock,” ARTE Book Club pores over works from past and present in book readings and interviews with guests. A place for people to come together and talk about their shared love of reading. Produced by Talweg and streamed live on Twitch from La Gaîté Lyrique.

➔ ARTE Radio listening sessions
A pioneering, respected name in podcasting, ARTE Radio regularly organizes listening sessions for its podcasts before their release. An hour of short-form audio productions that are intimate, fun, and political, alongside radio shows, reporting, personal stories, and discussions with the podcasters and the ARTE web radio team.

➔ Discussions over Beers
Discussions over Beers is a talk series for digging deeper into ecological and social issues, to understand opposing viewpoints and overcome biases. Pre-packaged ideas and spoon-fed talking points are nowhere to be found – only well-reasoned perspectives that encourage collective action, shared by people who have already studied and worked on each topic.

➔ Our Times in Action
For the talk and discussion series Our Times in Action, La Gaîté Lyrique organizes big roundtables with people who are driving forward concrete initiatives. Not media personalities, but those working on the ground, who get their hands dirty. Together we share, converse, ask questions and take home all the info needed get the ball rolling.

This autumn, La Gaîté Lyrique is updating and expanding its actions to promote community and fight different forms of exclusion. Everyone is welcome at the center, which is partnering with non-profits such as La Chorba, the Salvation Army and Linkee to create spaces for sharing moments together while making art, visiting an exhibition or attending a concert.

With: 

➔ Art & Food 
Every Tuesday
in partnership with La Chorba and the Salvation Army

➔ Distribution of food packages for students
Every Thursday
in partnership with Linkee

➔ Distribution of hygiene and food packages for women 
One Wednesday per month
in partnership with Humanity diaspo 

Every Wednesday and Saturday afternoon, La Gaîté Lyrique offers workshop series to support kids in their creative endeavors. During the workshops, which are related to the season’s themes, young ones can discover the art of cinema, develop their critical thinking skills on topics such as the ecological transition, or experiment with different forms of sound creation. With their family, of course!

➔ Saturdays
Ages 6 and up
With: Les petits débrouillards, Enfances au cinéma, Module Exchange Paris 

➔ Wednesdays
Ages 12 and up
With: La Source Garouste & Maison d'Enfants à Caractère Social - MECS

Conviviality is central to life at La Gaîté Lyrique, with a bar and patio for you to enjoy a refreshment or simply share a moment of relaxation. Inside, the new bar is located on the ground floor, right next to the patio, like the bar on the floor above. Outside, the patio sits on the colorful, cheerful square home to La Gaîté Lyrique, where the sun shines in the mornings and evenings on nice days.

La Gaîté Lyrique helps new generations working in art, activism and media to develop their ability to create, network and collaborate using an inventive toolbox that includes shared offices as well as recording, multimedia and podcast studios. And that’s just the beginning – Factory of our times will extend beyond the walls of La Gaîté Lyrique to serve as a powerful beacon in Europe, amplifying voices and projects that transform our societies, and sharing the new stories and imaginaries that emerge.

More than 50 residencies will be settling in on the 6th and 7th floors of La Gaîté Lyrique in September. All the residents – in media, music, ecological transition and solidarity – share a common ground rule: all the projects developed at the center must reach the general public. The incubation programs led by the founding partners of Factory of our times will set the tempo for the year by seeking out talented individuals from all different sorts of backgrounds!

With: ARTE France, Miyam, Mangroove music, Regroop, On est prêt, Imagine 2050, Red Bull Music Studios Paris, Censored, Nova Materia, Upian, Collectif… 

Want to join this collective journey? The next call for residency will open in autumn for projects in the rehearsal studio and the podcast studio.

Voguing on Tour

La Gaîté Lyrique has a long history with the ballroom scene. Voguing on Tour was launched to share that experience in hosting and producing events, in partnership with a network of cultural institutions eager to open up to the scene. La Gaîté Lyrique’s balls are heading out on tour with Vinii Revlon as master of ceremonies, to connect with broader audiences.

➔ 14 July 2023, Le Heat, Lyon
All Red Ball - Festival Intérieur Queer

➔ 15 July 2023, Ballet de Marseille, Marseille
White & Blue Kiki Ball

➔ 16 July 2023, Mucem, Marseille
Touch of Gold fashion Ball II

➔ 16 September 2023, Usines Fagor, Lyon
Fight for your Rights Ball – 20th Biennale de la danse

➔ 8 October 2023, Pompidou Center Metz, Metz
The Gold & Black Ball

➔ 28 October 2023, La Gaîté Lyrique, Paris
The Halloween Party Ball II

➔ 1st December 2023, Opera de Lille, Lille
Orange & White Ball – 100th anniversary of the Opera

La Gaîté Lyrique – Factory of our times
La Gaîté Lyrique is a City of Paris cultural center that seeks to address pressing cultural, social, democratic and climate issues. The Factory of our times project combines creation and social engagement to put ideas into practice, bringing people together for a concert, roundtable, drink, performance, workshop or screening. La Gaîté Lyrique is open daily to support a new generation of talents, break down barriers between practices and audiences, and build new narratives on a European scale. Working hand in hand with artists, activists, thinkers and changemakers, La Gaîté Lyrique – Factory of our times puts forward new ways of creating and acting together.

A place for artistic creation and social engagement, La Gaîté Lyrique is a cultural institution of the City of Paris, led by Arty Farty, ARTE France, makesense, SINGA and Actes Sud.

La Gaîté Lyrique – Fabrique de l'époque
La Gaîté Lyrique, lieu culturel de la Ville de Paris, entend répondre à l’urgence culturelle, sociale, démocratique et climatique. Avec le projet Fabrique de l’époque, entre création et engagement, elle invite à passer de l’idée à l’action, tous et toutes rassemblées autour d’un concert, d’une table ronde, d’un verre, d’une performance, d’un atelier ou d’une projection. La Gaîté Lyrique est un lieu ouvert au quotidien pour accompagner une nouvelle génération de talents, décloisonner les pratiques et les publics, et ainsi construire de nouveaux récits à échelle européenne. Main dans la main avec les artistes, les activistes, les penseurs et penseuses, les acteurs et actrices du changement, la Gaîté Lyrique – Fabrique de l’époque propose de nouvelles façons de créer et d’agir ensemble.