From the North to the Lot, the public who had the chance to meet Gilles Defacque are mourning the death of a great artist. An emblematic figure of the cultural scene, this author, clown and performer was the founder and director of Prato, a national circus center based in Lille. He bowed out at age 79 last Saturday.
His death saddens his friends in Lot, a territory he particularly loved. “He was very attached to the Lot. He had a house with his wife near Limogne for 30 years, like my husband and me. They had parties with a lot of musician friends. And when we were in the North, we spent hours discussing the Lot” remembers Catherine Cullen with emotion, who knew him well. The former cultural assistant to the city of Lille, now president of ScénOgraph, an approved cultural scene based in Saint-Céré, had become very close to Gilles Defacque. She pays him a vibrant tribute by evoking a man “very accessible, very poetic and so funny” with multiple talents including that of handling and twisting words.
“A gesticulated reading full of facetiousness and poetry”
In July 2023, Gilles Defacque performed for the first time in Figeac during a reading entitled “les Parlures” at the theater festival. A moment of grace which had marked the many spectators present.
Among them, the president of the Friends of the festival, René Roques, kept in mind and in his heart the performance of Gilles Defacque which had deeply moved him. “I discovered the artist proposed by Véronique Do during this gesticulated reading full of facetiousness and poetry. A great entertainer who managed to make the crowd of spectators play with one voice. It is true that we were many that day under the bicentennial lime tree of the Jardin des Ecritures. The announcement of his death filled me with sadness.
Hélène Lacipière, elected delegate for culture and heritage in the town of Figeac, has not forgotten “this moment of happiness, of joy” which touched her greatly. “Personally, I have fond memories of it. This reading was a very nice surprise which took place at Place de la Lecture, under the lime tree, in front of more than 120 people. Having lived and worked in the North for a long time, I knew the route by Gilles Defacque. This show was like lightning, fireworks!”
The funeral of Gilles Defacque will take place in Lille on Monday January 6.
From the North to the Lot, the public who had the chance to meet Gilles Defacque are mourning the death of a great artist. An emblematic figure of the cultural scene, this author, clown and performer was the founder and director of Prato, a national circus center based in Lille. He bowed out at age 79 last Saturday.
His death saddens his friends in Lot, a territory he particularly loved. “He was very attached to the Lot. He had a house with his wife near Limogne for 30 years, like my husband and me. They had parties with a lot of musician friends. And when we were in the North, we spent hours discussing the Lot” remembers Catherine Cullen with emotion, who knew him well. The former cultural assistant to the city of Lille, now president of ScénOgraph, an approved cultural scene based in Saint-Céré, had become very close to Gilles Defacque. She pays him a vibrant tribute by evoking a man “very accessible, very poetic and so funny” with multiple talents including that of handling and twisting words.
“A gesticulated reading full of facetiousness and poetry”
In July 2023, Gilles Defacque performed for the first time in Figeac during a reading entitled “les Parlures” at the theater festival. A moment of grace which had marked the many spectators present.
Among them, the president of the Friends of the festival, René Roques, kept in mind and in his heart the performance of Gilles Defacque which had deeply moved him. “I discovered the artist proposed by Véronique Do during this gesticulated reading full of facetiousness and poetry. A great entertainer who managed to make the crowd of spectators play with one voice. It is true that we were many that day under the bicentennial lime tree of the Jardin des Ecritures. The announcement of his death filled me with sadness.
Hélène Lacipière, elected delegate for culture and heritage in the town of Figeac, has not forgotten “this moment of happiness, of joy” which had touched her greatly. “Personally I have fond memories of it. This reading was a very nice surprise which took place at Place de la Lecture, under the lime tree, in front of more than 120 people. Having lived and worked in the North for a long time, I knew the route by Gilles Defacque. This show was like lightning, fireworks!”
The funeral of Gilles Defacque will take place in Lille on Monday January 6.
