Covid has left its mark which is just beginning to fade. Attendance at Didam, the contemporary art venue on the right bank of Bayonne, at half mast in recent years, is finally returning to its pre-pandemic level. The season which has just ended saw 40,000 visitors cross the door of the atypical building, former maritime affairs department. This is 10,000 more than during the 2022/2023 season, with a program that mixes nationally or even internationally renowned artists and local artists. This will still be the case during the 2024/2025 season which has just been presented. THE designer Plantu (The World) and the photographer Rézawho will present their exhibition “Regards Croissants” in the summer of 2025, share the bill with five artists from the Basque Country.
Visitors from all over the world
“We have regained our cruising speed a little”rejoices Amandine Chaput, head of the visual center for the city of Bayonne and Didam. The public is back, but they are not necessarily the same faces as before Covid. “Indeed, we found a audience perhaps different, even more diverse”agrees our interlocutor. The atypical theater on the Quai de Lesseps, on the banks of the Adour, near the Atalante cinema and the train station, is easy to access, quick to visit for a curious visitor and free. “People can come and see what’s going on inside, come in, come out if they don’t like it, explains Amandine Chaput. All of this led us to find a fairly large number of visitors, whether with locals, regulars, but also passing visitors, a lot of tourism. In the summer, we have people from all over the world, who come from Southeast Asia, South America, Europe, a lot of Spaniards too.”
An audience which will discover four new programs this season, after “The Way Out”, the street art exhibition offered by the Kaxu gallery which ends this Sunday, November 10. Once again, the 2024/2025 poster offers renowned artists with “Regards Croissants”, the exhibition by Plantu, known for his press drawings in the newspaper Le Monde, and the photographer Réza, which will begin in the summer 2025. Before them, five local artists will be displayed on the walls of Didam. After Zigor and Dominique Duplantier who met with great success, the contemporary art room continues to be Basque artists have a great place this season. “It’s a strong choice around local artists which is ultimately confirmed over the seasons, recognizes Amandine Chaput. It’s true that we have a very rich pool.”* Painters, photographers, sculptors who are increasingly calling on the Bayonnaise gallery which has managed to make a name for itself in barely ten years of existence.
“Putting your little stone in the building”
The originality of Didam is notably its atypical layout which forces artists to adapt to the placeoften even to be specially created to be able to exhibit there. “The local itself imposes new options, another path”says the experienced Martine Pinsolle. The painter has specially created some of her paintings for the occasion which will be exhibited there: “It allowed me to begin a long reflection. I think about it almost every day. How do I position myself in this place? It’s an enriching and wonderful experience”smiles the artist who has been living in Bayonne for 50 years, who had the chance to exhibit at the Carré Bonnat and crossed the Adour, 20 years later, after having exported herself internationally. “It’s an experience that is both emotional and intimate and also, somewhere, it’s a new discovery.”
Alongside him, from November 24, two other Basque artists will take their place in the exhibition entitled “Talents from the Basque Country”: the portrait painter Miguel Etxevarria and the photographer Mathieu Prat. The youngest of the trio also composed especially for the occasion. He made the nocturnal journey “of a luminous chimera that I created, which climbs the mountain peaks in the Basque Country. It’s allegorical, very poetic and very surreal too.” For this Bayonnais, the opportunity to exhibit at Didam “It is pleasure, a form of recognition Also. It’s a beautiful space, a beautiful cultural structure which is alive and evolving well, so I’m happy to put my little stone into the building.”
Programming 2024/2025
- From November 24, 2024 to January 12, 2025: “Talents from the Basque Country” paintings and photographs by Martine Pinsolle, Miguel Etxevarria and Mathieu Prat
- From January 24 to March 23, 2025: Guillaume Fauveau, Bayonne photojournalist
- From April 4 to May 25, 2025: Kardesch, abstract painting
- From June 6 to September 7, 2025: “Crossed views”, drawing and photography by Plantu and Réza