En 2021, in the midst of a pandemic, the mayor of Saint-Dizier, in Haute-Marne, Quentin Brière (LR), launched an original idea to counteract the ambient gloom: displaying reproductions of masterpieces of painting on the billboards in his city. Springby Botticelli, or Parquet planersfrom Caillebotte, had then occupied the spaces usually reserved for SUV brands or hamburger chains. Called “Beauty will save the world”, in reference to a passage from The Idiotby Dostoyevsky, the fourth edition of the event is currently taking place in around thirty municipalities. Including Neuvy-sur-Barangeon (Cher), the smallest of them.
This village of 1,184 inhabitants has neither billboards nor bus shelters. Duplicates of universal canvases, selected from a list established by the Grand Palais, have been attached to the fronts of disused businesses. Hobby, by Gauguin, and Starry Nightby Van Gogh, adorn the window of the former Press House. 5 meters long, an enlargement of the Evening vaporsby Antoine Chintreuil, is spread across the facade of the delicatessen, closed two years ago. The operation could have extended to other abandoned brands, if their owners had been found or given their consent. “There is no shortage of warts in our village”saddens the mayor, Marie-Pierre Cassard, made aware of this project by her municipal councilor, Raphaël Ruegger, president of the French Federation of Things That Work, a national association which promotes local initiatives.
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In the 1950s, Neuvy-sur-Barangeon enjoyed flourishing commercial activity. There were more than ten cafes there (compared to two today), three butchers, a hardware store, a haberdashery, a shoe repair shop… Remains with worn walls evoke this bygone era, like the last two restaurants, Au Cerf d’ gold and Le Boeuf Couronne, a former postal relay through the windows of which you can see the glasses and cutlery from the last service. A dozen shops are now keeping the torch going in the village, which is not so bad considering the phenomenon of the abandonment of local shops which has affected rural areas for decades. But there is concern.
For lack of a buyer…
The florist, Isabelle Bonnard, 64, has just put her business up for sale in order to retire. Buyers are not rushing to the gate. The diversification of her shelves – she also sells newspapers, hunting and fishing articles – allows her to earn a meager income of a few hundred euros per month. “If I don’t find a buyershe confides, Unfortunately, I will have no other choice but to do like everyone else: sell to a real estate developer who will build housing. » Invited by the town hall to hang a poster of a master’s painting on her door, Isabelle Bonnard chose a landscape by… her namesake, Pierre Bonnard (Le Cannet) : “It made sense. »
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