The festival will open on July 4 with the performance “Maldoror” by Julien Gosselin in the courtyard of the Palais des Papes. After English, Spanish, and Arabic, Korean is the language invited this year. The program will reflect the cultural richness of this language, inviting the public to discover intimate aspects of Korean culture through live arts. Theater and dance will be strongly represented, directly addressing current political issues in Korean society. In total, the festival offers 47 shows with nearly 300 performances over 22 days. Noteworthy performances include “Hors-présence” by Tiphaine Raffier, “1,2,3 Poquelin” by tg Stan at the Carrière de Boulbon, “Le deuil sied à Electre” by Gwenaël Morin, and “La Parabole du Seum” by Rébecca Chaillon. The other show in the courtyard will be “Le Pas du monde” by the XY company, specializing in acrobatics. Tiago Rodrigues, director of the festival, emphasizes the importance of artistic freedom within the event.
“I believe that the Avignon Festival has a crucial role in offering creation for 22 days in July in Avignon, using unforgettable venues like monuments and gymnasiums to transform the city into a festival, providing a journey through the realm of theater and live arts. This journey also has a political dimension, as theater has always occupied, over centuries, a space in social organization and how people relate. This political dimension is always present. We cannot expect the Avignon Festival to change the world on its own. As Jean Vilar once said, ‘Change the world and I would change the festival.’ I might not go as far as Jean Vilar, the festival’s founder, but I would say that we take our contribution seriously. We believe that art can be at the center of citizenship and that the Avignon Festival, this utopian but tangible moment, proves that art can change people’s lives.”
The Avignon Festival will take place from July 4 to 25, and the full program can be found on the festival’s website.
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