Toulouse. Kamel Secraoui, aka Chat Maigre, cooks for the homeless on his plancha bike
By Toulouse editorial staff
Published on
A Toulouseabout the known designer and artist. Kamel Secraoui had, in the past, designed public benches on which to write dedications, quotes or sweet words…
For a few months, the one we know under the artist name of Skinny Cat has installed a plancha on his bike and will cook up tasty meals for the homeless in the streets of Toulouse.
The association he created in 2020 is called Griddle Social Club. Son but? “Complete a certain number of maraudes in Toulouse and meet people in precarious situations”.
Just a bike and a plancha
It’s lunch time. A mouth-watering aroma of zucchini and sautéed onions wafts through the air. However, there is no restaurant at the foot of the high brick walls of Saint-Michel, a former prison that looks like a fortified castle. Just a bike and, in tow, a stainless steel griddle: Kamel Secraoui prepares croque-monsieur there, with crispy “real bread”.
By the enticed smell, a group is formed. Backpacks or satchels dropped from the shoulders, the time for a gourmet break for a dozen homeless people who came there by word of mouth.
“There is taste! It changes “
Her fox terrier on a leash, Bénédicte, 50, whose life as a home ironer changed after a violent attack, likes to “warm her heart a little”.
“There is taste! It changes” from the usual food distributions, revels in Mehdi, 46. Dismissed from a recycling center for having refused the vaccine against covid, he has lived on the street since January, for lack of being able to pay rent.
Connect, share
Kamel Secraoui, also 46, intends to “create a link with people who are not used to it, who have little attention” in order to “humanize the city through simple gestures, shared moments” .
Coming from a family of six children, whose Kabyle father had come from Algeria to work at the AZF fertilizer factory – which exploded in 2001 killing 30 and injuring more than 8,000 – this Stade Toulousain fan was born on 28 May 1976 in the Pink City.
He grew up in the heart of Mirail
He grew up in the heart of the popular city of Mirail, inspired by the generous women around him: his mother, two sisters, a grandmother who “was not the richest, quite the contrary, but the little she had, she shared it”.
Founder of the KLD Design agency, selected for several biennials including Venice in 2018, he creates signage, objects and furniture for communities or individuals.
About fifty of his benches with graphic lines, baptized “Naelou” – from the first names of his children Naël and Lou – adorn parks and sidewalks in different cities.or private gardens.
Known as Skinny Cat
Their particularity: “via the naelou.com page, people send their messages which will be punched in there”, at the rate of one euro per word, or for free when it is, for example, a gift from a retirement home to its residents.
Known as Chat Maigre for his street art works, the designer made headlines in 2006 by clandestinely brightening up a roadside radar with legos. “The prefect had the radar removed and summoned me. He was surprised that people asked him to put it back,” he recalls with a laugh.
Humanitarian Grand Prize
The idea of the bike-plancha arose during confinement: “We enjoy grilling with my family and I was thinking of people on the street”. He designs, then manufactures with a metalworker a “hygienic and functional” plancha.
An association was born, the Plancha Social Club, which recently received the gold medal of the Humanitarian Grand Prize of France. A few volunteers got involved, such as Halima Benaissa, 64, a retired social mediator who “helps, accompanies, discusses” with the guests.
Animator at the municipality’s social restaurant, Houria Chikah, 49, has been there since the start at the end of 2021. “It’s fun, warm and we take the time to discuss”, she appreciates.
If Kamel Secraoui dreams of rallying more people so that the plancha bike is not dependent on his professional commitments and “runs more than once or twice a week”, he does not intend to stop there.
His new idea: a competition for young people with graphic design skills, but without money to study it. “The best will decorate the Toulouse metro, in partnership with the operator Tisséo, and thus show their talent. »
The designer knows this ground: in 2008, he had, in all legality, adorned with stickers eight elevators and a station. “I like the city and see it differently, in color”, explains Kamel Secraoui, eager today to “really give a smile, by sharing”.
AFP
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