Les Cabanes Hurlantes, a participatory artistic residency in Pays de Brie

The Coulommiers Pays de Brie agglomeration community welcomes a unique artistic project of its kind, The Howling Shacksborn from the collaboration between the Compagnie Plaisir d’Offrir, Joie de Recevoir (POJR), Act’art and the DRAC Île-de-France.

This project, which is anchored in the territory in 2025, is a immersive and participatory experience where residents will have the opportunity to share and create stories linked to their daily lives and their heritage. The objective? Stage life stories through writing workshops, artistic constructions and a collective sound exhibition.

A project co-built with residents

One of the strong points of these Howling Shacks lies in its co-construction approach, which involves local audiences at every stage of the process. All this while promoting intergenerational exchanges and weaving links between different inhabitants of the territory.

Last November, during two weeks of immersion, the company came to meet potential partners to implement the project in different establishments: schools, leisure centers, homes, or even nursing homes.

For several months, workshops will be organized in these different structures in order to collect personal stories, write letters, tell anecdotes or share memories. Each participant will be able to take part in the creation and live a collective experience.

Sound cabins to tell the intimate story

Ces Collected stories will come to life in twelve “huts”artistic installations designed and built in partnership with the participants which will be true places of sharing and expression. Each cabin will be a sensory and sound spacedesigned to evoke a memory, a dream or a utopia.

Various materials (wood, fabrics, recycled objects) will be used to shape these cabins, and “sound machines” will be integrated to broadcast the recorded stories.

Project stages

From January to April 2025, the project will be structured in four stages. First, the collectage. Thus, story collection and writing workshops will be held in partner structures, through various original activities. Then, the construction. Each structure will participate in the creation of one of the twelve cabins through construction workshops led by Suzie, a visual artist and clown. Then will come the sound creation. The stories collected will be recorded and integrated into the cabins in the form of audio stories broadcast on CD stations and other devices.

Finally, in April 2025, a restitution show will present all the cabins to the public. The facilities will be exhibited in an ephemeral village in La Ferté-sous-Jouarre. Mireille, an actress-clown, will guide visitors through this audio and participatory journey. Four live shows will also be offered to residents in other municipalities in the region.

The Howling Shacks promises to be an innovative project combining art and social ties, in a collective dynamic. It is not only an artistic project, but an act of sharing, transmission and common creation, where each story will find its place in this sound building.

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