Bourges: a show in preparation about Marcel Bascoulard, the tramp artist from Bourges

Marcel Bascoulard’s drawings, but also his photos, have been rediscovered in recent years and have led to a certain speculation, but this is not what aroused the interest of the artists of the Toulouse street performance company, Quasar Quasar. The great-grandparents of Malou Lévêque, author and director, were from Bourges. It is therefore through his family that the artist heard about Marcel Bascoulard. The show, which will be simply titled “Marcel”, will be ready in 2027.

When we talk about Marcel Bascoulard, we immediately think of his famous tricycle, his cross-dressing and his somewhat gruff side. In view of the first testimonies, Jules Poulain-Plissonneau, author and performer, thinks that Marcel Bascoulard maintained this image for a very specific reason: “He was so tired of being approached on a daily basis that he developed a whole strategy. He pretended to have fleas and apparently even his scent was reflected to make sure people wouldn’t get too close to him. When he worked in the street drawing the historic buildings of Bourges, he did not want to be disturbed. It was his job, his livelihood. Especially since his works are very precise. He had a real artistic approach and sometimes aroused as much fear and rejection as admiration. Our show does not aim to say who Marcel Bascoulard was, why he was like that. We don’t have that pretension.”

The show is above all a reflection on the way marginality is perceived : “What we would like is above all that at the end of the show, people would have a desire for openness and tolerance towards Marcel Bascoulard but also towards any other person they might come across in the street and perhaps judge. be too quickly, insists Malou Lévêque, director. We are looking for testimonies from people who knew him or simply saw him in the street, but we are also going to show photos of Marcel Bascoulard in other places in France to see how people who have never heard of him react. him. What interests us is also to deal with the relationship to the norm, or to marginality. Our approach is very global. For example, we have just spent several hours in the departmental archives to consult the letters written by Marcel Bascoulard.”

Marcel Bascoulard, a complex being. What also struck both artists was his generosity: “He went to buy things at a grocery store whose finances were in bad shape, rcalls Jules Poulain-Plissonneau. He gave money to people in prison so they could pay their lawyers, while he lived on an empty lot. He was someone who was fundamentally generous and that’s also what we want to show.”

The Quasar company Quasar will return to residence at Carroi in Menetou-Salon in January to complete its documentary work before delving into writing the show. If you have testimonials about Marcel Bascoulard, you can contact the company’s artists on 06 71 25 48 45 or via [email protected].