the inhabitants of Aubervilliers more or less convinced by the operation “Beauty will save the world”

When billboards become works of Art. In around thirty towns in France, such as Châteauroux, Aix-en-Provence and Saint-Raphaël, emblematic paintings take the place of advertising billboards. This is the principle of the “Beauty will save the world” operation launched in 2021 in Saint-Dizier, in Haute-Marne, and which is gaining more and more followers.

The latest, Aubervilliers, in Seine-Saint-Denis, which decided to join for the first time. The goal is to make culture accessible to everyone for a few weeks. The operation ends on the 8th next December in the 32 cities which have decided to make their walls an open-air museum.

Opposite the Aubervilliers park, a work of art has replaced the advertisements that usually appear on the illuminated advertising panel. Yet many people pass by it every day without realizing it. “I didn’t even notice, recognizes Mohammed, 15 years old. I don’t even watch this stuff and even before I didn’t watch. But it’s good, already for people who don’t have the means to go to the museum.”

Around ten works by recognized painters can be discovered in the city. Yaya isn’t really convinced : “Everyone works and doesn’t have time to stop, look and wonder what it makes them think about. Art, I don’t think there are many people in Aubervilliers who are interested in that.”

Najia does not agree, she is interested in it. While walking with her son, at the corner of a crossroads, she falls under the spell of the painting Moonlight on the river de Lowell Birge Harrisson. “When you see that, especially at night, there are thoughts, it’s very pretty. A bit of river, nature, it’s calm”enthuses Najia.

“It’s very good, because there is a lot of pollution and when we see that, it makes us forget all that.”

A resident of Aubervilliers

at franceinfo

As for Farida, she “scoured all the museums in Paris”she indicates but, for her, “it’s better to look at the painting in real life. Well, I see mainly what is written, so it pollutes me a little. I see less the image than what is written.” It refers to the name of the work and the painter written in large letters on the painting, as well as the list of partners in smaller letters at the bottom. “People who are not really interested in art, it’s not really going to impact them that much”adds Farida.

This campaign costs the city nothing, the works simply replace communication inserts on the municipality’s actions. For UDI Mayor Karine Franclet, art must be available to all : “We are in a territory where people do not necessarily have access to culture. So what could be better than using advertising panels to display, in large format, works made available free of charge by the Grand Palais, the meeting national museums ?”

These posters will remain for several more days in the streets of Aubervilliers, before being redistributed to schools in particular.