During the Fête de la Cité, 4 Cité Internationale houses: Maisons des Étudiants de la Francophonie, Collège franco-britannique, Fondation des États-Unis, and Maison du Cambodge are honored to present the exhibition “Balades Photographiques” by the Photo Club de la Cité, winner of the Fonds des Initiatives Résidentes (FIR) 2024 program.
The exhibition will present the creations stemming from 15 photographic walks focusing on 12 themes related to architectural aspects, urban issues, and city life. The exhibit will be preceded by a piano concert performed by Julia Łozowska, a 23-year-old Polish pianist who is active on the international scene. She has been trained by professors Arie Vardi and Wojciech Świtała and is the winner of numerous international competitions, including the XIIth International Chopin Competition in Narva, Estonia, where she won 1st prize ex aequo, the IVth International Piano Competition in Gagny, France, and the VIIIth International Chopin Competition in Budapest, Hungary, where she won 2nd prize.
Practical Information
Dates May 25 – May 27 | Opening hours 10am-8pm
Location Researchers’ Club, Collège franco-britannique
Free admission, subject to availability.
Grand Opening
Date Saturday, May 25 | Schedule 2:00pm – 3:00pm
A drink will be offered to those present at the Grand Opening.
Art-Hop-Polis
This month, several houses will open their doors on Sunday, May 26 from 2 to 4 pm to offer a mini-art hop during the Fête de la Cité. Participating houses include the FEU, CFB, Collège d’Espagne, and the outdoor exhibition. The program is available on CitéScope.
Presentation of the Balades Photographiques
Inspired by the Flâneur (a character invented by Charles Baudelaire in the 19th-century ), the photographic walks are organized so that participants are guided by successive images and the beauty of everyday life. The subjects covered during these walks are mainly photographic exercises drawn from the book The Photographer’s Playbook: 307 Assignments and Ideas, designed to encourage Cité Universitaire students to use photography as a tool to better understand the city in which they live, in all its complexity and diversity, by paying more attention to it. It’s no coincidence that each photographic walk focuses on urban and architectural themes. Photography complements an important aspect of architecture: the ability to observe, to change the way we look at seemingly ordinary things, and to be attentive to details.
For the perfect flâneur or for the passionate observer, it is an immense pleasure to walk among the undulating, the moving, the ephemeral, and the infinite. To be away from home, and yet feel at home everywhere; to see the world, be at the center of the world and remain hidden from the world. – Charles Baudelaire, Le peintre de la vie moderne, III, “L’artiste, homme du monde, homme des foules et enfant” (The artist, man of the world, man of the crowds and child).