¡Viva Villa!

A multidisciplinary artistic panorama

A multi-disciplinary festival, ¡Viva Villa! features a selection of artists and researchers from the four residencies, exhibiting their work over the course of a day of meetings, screenings and workshops, followed by an evening of original concerts and performances. Each edition presents a sensitive and critical panorama of major contemporary issues in literature, live performance, architecture and the visual arts, among other disciplines. A veritable laboratory of forms, ¡Viva Villa! shows how an artist residency can be a place for research, introspection, innovation and encounters.

Programming

Concerts

• 7:30-8:15pm: performance SENTIMENTALLY YOURS by CHOUF and Mohamed Lamouri – video by Nemja BoussaÏd

This performance, on the themes of exile and love, is an exploration of raï as an influential genre, and its impact on the composition and interpretation of contemporary music. Chouf is a poet, DJ and performer whose work links the intimate and the political. Often accompanied by guitarist Trustfall or violinist Inès Cherifi, she recounts love and despair, the youth of working-class neighborhoods, the world of the living and the dead, between spoken word and sentimental raï. Mohamed Lamouri has been singing in the Paris metro for 15 years – you may have heard him on line 2 – with his broken voice and sentimental Algerian raï, visually impaired with a keyboard on his shoulder, singing songs in Arabic, from his own repertoire to that of Algerian youth idol Cheb Hasni – assassinated in ’94 – and some near-cult adaptations (Hotel California and Billie Jean in Arabic, among others).

• 8:30-9:15 pm: Performance Chief Scout by Smaïl Kanouté in collaboration with Souffle collectif and Senny Camara, Magic Malik, Jorge Bezerra, Sylvain Rabourdin and Anne Paceo

Smaïl Kanouté performs his induction as “Chief Scout” into New Orleans’ legendary “Yellow Pocahontas” community of Black Indians in 2023, inspired by Mardi Gras parades. At the Gaîté Lyrique, he imagines an experimental and original parade, bringing together musicians from the Souffle collectif, who share a taste for improvisation mixed with traditions of European, African and Brazilian influence. Smaïl Kanouté graduated from the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs de Paris in Graphic Design. He is also a self-taught dancer, and makes short films. Most recently, he collaborated with Simon Rouby and Native Maqari on the Goutte d’Or project as part of the “Mondes Nouveaux” program. He is currently developing a documentary web series Je danse donc je suis with guests such as Oxmo Puccino and Mory Sacko. Souffle, a collective founded by Julien Colardelle, is a driving force behind hybrid projects and programming, from concert to performance, exploring the field of musical and popular traditions, as well as experimental and improvisational artistic practices.

• 21h45-22h30 : Anne Paceo

A prolific composer with an instantly recognizable style, a gifted drummer, considered “the most brilliant, the most complete, the most scenic of percussionists” (Le Monde), Anne Paceo plays with codes and evolves at the frontiers of jazz, pop, electronic and world music. The French artist, winner of 3 Victoires de la Musique awards and Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, never ceases to surprise us, as she travels the world in search of new cultures and new sounds. Eager for sacred moments and emotions that transcend borders, she creates incredible sonic journeys.