GatewayAbroad

Continuation of previous entry:

After I discovered the baby monsters the entire city transformed into one giant spectaclethey really held nothing back (I forgot to mentionLille 3000s subtitle is Europe XXL). There was a parade with giant, luminescent marionettes, a giant hour glass float (this one was scarythe hour glass had a person inside making strange writhing movements), and live Eastern bohemian music. Cranes were located in various parts of the city and continually hoisted acrobats into the sky. Troops of drummers dressed in green bodysuits and flower petal headdresses roamed the city. One of the India statues from the 2004 Lille festival was burned in the middle of the citys canal (I believe this was meant to symbolize artistic rebirth). And perhaps my all-time favorite display: a giant disco ball was hoisted in front of the opera house and transformed the square into a massive, all-night techno dance party. It was incredible.
In the days following the opening ceremonies several really cool exhibitions have opened in museums around the city, which is one of the main reasons I decided to stay in Lille for the majority of my break. The best by far was called Hypnos and focused on images of the unconscious and traced movements such as Spiritualism, art connected to psychoanalytical theories, Dadaism and Surrealism. Victor Brauners work was my favoriteI like unsettling art. I think the reason Lille 3000 has made such a strong impression on me is because it has been such a non-passive series of eventsall displays and exhibitions seem to be deliberately provocative. One of the other museums I visited (La Maison Folie de Wazemmes) had museum guides whose proclaimed purpose was not to explain the exhibition but ask visitors what they thought.

Hello hello gentle readers. The drizzly Lille winter is finally turning into spring (a pleasant 17 degrees Celsius today) and in celebration I have decided to resurface my fickle travel log. Natural sunlight seems to do good things for my initiative.
I think my previous entries failed to mention that my bedroom window directly faces a classroom in the agricultural engineering bedroom. This means that when my curtains are open and class is in session we can nearly see the whites of each others eyes. This is at times entertaining and intriguing; sometimes the students write messages to my building on a large paper tablet (Bonjour nos petits rayons de soleil! to which I replied Bonjour, mon grand aquarium humain!). On the downside my privacy is a bit compromised: I know for a fact that the agricultural engineers have seen me drowsily stumbling around my room all disheveled and in my skivvies upon waking.
After a few of theses incidents I decided to keep my drapes closed indefinitely and protect myself from prying eyes, but this cloistered lifestyle did little for my emotional state (winter in northern France away from friends and family could sometimes feel very isolated) and so I have newly resolved to allow both sun and engineering eyes to enter my bedroom.
My second semester classes ended in mid-April, followed by two weeks of vacation which I am currently enjoying (time to study for the upcoming exam week). I decided to stay in Lille for the better part of these two weeks and make an effort to explore my host city in more detailit has more to offer than I originally thought. I had gotten in the habit of viewing Lille as a cold, industrial, and culturally barren, which was unjust, especially considering the current Lille 3000 extravaganza.
How to explain Lille 3000 (Lille trois milleit rhymes!)& from what I understand Lille was crowned the cultural capital of Europe in 2004 and in conjunction with the title the city put on a series of cultural events: concerts, special exhibitions, parades, film screenings, etc. The affair was apparently such a huge success the city decided to do it all over again, title or not.
So Lille 3000 is essentially a city-wide cultural flourishing lasting from March 14th to July 12th with a focus on an expanding Europe and most notably eastern Europe countries. Lille 3000 strikes me somewhat as an excuse for the city to put on cultural events and possibly attract tourism, but that said all of my Lille 3000-reltaed experiences have been astonishing.
The day of the opening ceremonies I hadnt yet taken note of what Lille 3000 was all about. Some friends invited me to check out the parade and other various installations around the city and I was honestly shocked by what I saw: primarily the dozen or so GIANT black demon-baby statues that had been erected along Rue de Faidherbe overnight. This street leads directly to la gare Lille-Flandres (train station), so in short everyone arriving in Lille by train is welcomed by a row of looming, shiny black diaper-wearing human figures with dinosaur tails and bat wings
The public response to these statues has been mixed: after the initial shock wore off many people found them ugly and puzzling. This is why I love themthere is nothing timid of bashful about these demon babies. I admire their brazen originality (to be continued).