Moselle. Do you know which gift from Metz (and not from Nancy) to place under the tree?

There will come a day when we will proudly wear the name Metz in gold letters on our winter hat. And the word AMOS at the playa on the chest. And why not today? The Messins and more broadly the Mosellans are not used to being proud of themselves or of their city. Not everyone is born Alsatian, nor Nancyian. However, with its cathedral – seen on CNN! –, Pompidou and Constellations, with Graoully, and Steinhoff sandwiches, Metz has a separate identity of which we can only be proud.

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Those who know it best are those who left it. Which were exported to regions where Melfor, sausage and the cross of Lorraine are not cardinal points. At Christmas, we must think of these lost souls.

Artisanal screen printing

Now, all of these Proust madeleines are… at the Schmirlab! This is a collective of artists established at No. 33, rue des Jardins in Metz. A place entirely dedicated to artisanal screen printing. In other words, with derision, to “schmirage”, from the verb in Platt “schmirer”, to smear and spread the dirt while wanting to clean.

A place full of talent but where no one takes themselves seriously. There you will find dozens of screen prints starting from €20.

For example, the Amos bridge at night by Patrick Secco, 49th screen print in his Metz series which includes the Heler House perched on Starck's hotel. Or the little men of Lyon graphic designer Geneviève Gauckler, known for her work on French Touch. And then a bestseller: the black and white monuments of Metz by artist-designer Jérôme Maillet. We can also offer a craft screen printing course for €30 for two hours.

Finds at low prices

“The prices here are very reasonable. The Association does not make money. The profits are only used to pay the rent,” its members point out.

The first prizes are the €2 badges: a smiley face with a sausage smile, a black Arschlor Mittal pin or the Frensh Quiche slogan plastered on a mouth.

The humor of schmirlab extends to furniture with, for example, the Croa cups, an anagram of Cora, by graphic designer Frédérique Giacomazzi. It also colonizes t-shirts, hats and even baby bodysuits (baby blouses).

He doesn't forget to scratch the Nancy neighbor. On these t-shirts, the AS Nancy Lorraine stadium is called Marcel Picon and Allez Nanci! ignores the Y.

Artists are also interested in the rest of the world. Their creations pester personalities – Trump, Kim Jong-un, a certain Mackerel or Abbé Pierre –, divert the image of kittens or celebrate beauty with this screen print by Sarah Teulé of a woman at the edge of a lake in the blue forest.

And if the basket is not full, other collectives offer their nuggets at low prices in Metz.

Among them, the five-legged Dahu (ex-Ephemeral Vitrine), place du Marché-de-la-Chèvre, whose thirty artists (painting, sculpture, photography, modeling, design) deploy its traditional Christmas market with a loads of inexpensive and original ideas for the end of year celebrations.

The Schmirlab opens Wednesday to Sunday from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m.; The five-legged Dahu from Wednesday to Saturday from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. and Sundays in December.

“Do you know? Metz” can also be listened to as a podcast