Bordeaux, Lyon, Marseille and Toulouse were competing to be capital of culture 2013…and the winner is Marseille chosen unanimously by the jury. Marseille will represent its region PACA but also France at the European level.
The honours are to be shared with the Slovakian town of Košice.
The Mayor of Marseille, Jean-Claude Gaudin, was pleased by the success of the Marseille Provence 2013 project, which involves 130 communes from nine urban communities gathering together over 2.2 million inhabitants.
Where does the capital of culture concept come from?
This is thanks to Melina Mercouri who was the Greek Minister of Culture in 1985. Her aim was to make all Europeans meet and share together. So, each year Europeans focus on two cities who have the opportunity and the visibility required to show their culture, their heritage.
Why this nomination should be granted to Marseille? This is time for Marseille to renew its image of a dirty poor city!
We should not forget that Marseille is an historic city and a major international port, it has effectively highlighted its Mediterranean routes, placing itself as a bridge between Europe and the South.
Indeed, Marseille appears to be a cultural crossroads thanks to its geographical position on the Mediterranean coast. Its major asset was the “Workshops of the Euro Mediterranean” project, which is created around an exchange of cultures and the revitalization of cities through culture. Marseille has also build a motivated programme and it will have four years to bring it to completion.
What’s more? The Capital of culture 2013 is definitely a land of immigration so it has an experience of sharing and integration, this is the main key point used by the city to won the candidacy. Indeed, it put the light on the dialogue between Europe and the Mediterranean shores of Africa and the Middle East in its programme.
Themes of conflict such as immigration, differences, and cultures … will be the main subject of many events planned. For instance gender relations in the region of the Mediterranean will be the heart of a great exhibition entitled “Sex, gender and minorities”.
Being a capital of culture 2013 or 2024 does not matter but it proves significant spin-offs in the cultural sphere and also in the economic one bringing prosperity and boosting the tourism sector. This is exactly what happened to Lille in France in 2004. Its bad image of industrial sites has changed into a cultural city and its architectural regeneration brought 9 millions visitors and 7.2 m euros to the city.
Marseille wish to win 6 Euros to every euro spent! That’s the game!
Now you know where to find your property!
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