The mayor of Caen, Aristide Olivier, considered the matter serious enough to take the time to personally apologize to the residents. However, everything began with joy and good humor: since December 1, every day at 6 p.m., the town hall, transformed into a gigantic Advent calendar, opens one of the windows on its facade to offer a surprise to the spectators. It could be a mini-concert, a tightrope walker show or even a marching band. And, clearly, the idea delights young and old who gather in increasing numbers every evening in front of the building to be surprised.
“It wasn’t the place”
All the shows so far seem to have been unanimous. All… except one: that of this Sunday, December 15. There were particularly many spectators coming with their families in front of the town hall when window 15 opened at 6 p.m. We first heard a few accordion and guitar notes then the voice of Yohan Leforestier, an artist from Caen known as Yo du Milieu. The young singer then sang a very militant slam, which began with these words: “It’s gassing in Gaza”… A position that he apparently wanted to be poetic but which first appeared to everyone as political. For ten minutes in fact, the young artist described the Christmas of a child, Amar, from Gaza.
The choice of a Caen artist
“We were trapped…” quickly reacted the mayor, Aristide Olivier. “The specifications were not respected. On Sunday, poetry was to be in the spotlight, and we had chosen a Caen artist recognized in this field with the sole command of producing a family show in the spirit of the end-of-year celebrations. Unfortunately, this one did not prove worthy of our trust. This was absolutely not the place for such a divisive militant position. » An outcry which does not prevent the artist from performing his performance.
“On Ukraine, there would have been no controversy”
“I was aware that the remarks could be disturbing. But I also got a lot of feedback from people who appreciated it. In any case, I had no intention of provoking. I didn’t want to trap anyone. I wanted to remind you, in a message of peace, that there are places where Christmas is not like here. If I had done it from the perspective of a Ukrainian child and not a Gazan child, there would probably be no controversy today,” he assures. The matter should stop there, but internally, the town hall services do not hide their anger at seeing the success of this Advent calendar tainted by this story.
