La Friche la Belle de Mai, un espace de 45 000 m2 où on fabrique, on produit, on diffuse et on partage de l'art et de la culture.

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La Friche la Belle de Mai, a 45,000 m2 space where art and culture are made, produced, disseminated and shared.

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La Friche, in its prototypal form, arose in 1992 out of the new models for urban cultural interaction in the public interest, now known as “third places.” This unique, reinvented space brings together artistic activity, modes of urban transformation, real connections to the region, and dynamic cooperation.

La Friche is both a workspace for 70 resident organizations (400 artists, producers, and employees work here every day), and a cross-disciplinary venue (each year, over 600 artistic events are made available to the public). Every year, 450,000 visitors come to this 45,000 square-meter public space housing five performance spaces, a community garden, a playground and athletic space, a restaurant, bookstore, daycare, some 2,400 square meters of exhibition space, an 8,000 square-meter rooftop, and a training center.

Thanks not only to its size but also the number and variety of spaces, La Friche provides workspace to artists, in addition to allowing numerous projects to develop at the same time. Sculptors, actors, painters, photographers, dancers, and producers can have the time and space they need for writing and creating. With their year-round presence and creative activity, these residents, called “frichistes,” form the living artistic hub that has been an essential part of La Friche since its conception.

Here, art and culture are brought into existence, shared, and enjoyed. But like any neighborhood, La Friche invites us to wander its streets, hang out in its public spaces, have a bite or a drink, drop off the kids at daycare or take them to the playground, buy fruit and vegetables at the Monday farmers market, or even dig a bed in the community garden.

It’s not a coincidence that La Friche adopted the name of La Belle de Mai, the larger neighborhood surrounding it. Neighborhood youth feel welcome in the spaces that are open seven days a week, and the youngest Belle de Mai residents even have a daycare. La Friche opened the cinema Le Gyptis in 2014, which has since become a pillar of the neighborhood, and people from Belle de Mai and beyond feel at home in its many open spaces.

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A little history :

Before La Friche became La Friche, it was one of France’s largest factories, the SEITA. This tobacco factory employed nearly 1,000 women and men until it shut down in 1990. Starting in 1992, a cultural project began to develop in the newly emptied buildings, at the behest of the city of Marseille alongside elected official for culture Christian Poitevin (also known by his artist pseudonym, Julien Blaine), and the director of Système Friche Theater, Philippe Foulquié. In the months that followed, a number of producers, cultural operators and artistic teams joined the Friche project. In 1995, with architect Jean Nouvel as President of the association, La Friche launched a study that would establish the ambitions and founding principles of La Friche la Belle de Mai, forging a close connection between the urban and cultural dimensions of the project.