Rouen European Capital of Culture 2028: the file is submitted!
By Manon Loubet
Published on
The nine French cities in lice to become european capital of culture 2028 had until Monday January 2, 2023 to submit their first file to the Ministry of Culture, the famous “bid book”, a 60-page file. As a good student, Rouen returned it a little early, on December 13, 2022.
A first step that calls for others. Three questions to Rebecca Armstrong, general delegate of the Rouen Seine Normande 2028 bid.
News: You have submitted the “bid book” for the candidacy for Rouen, European capital 2028. Do you think you can tell us what it contains?
Rebecca Armstrong: Not yet ! For the moment, it remains secret until the oral which should take place in the week of February 27, 2023. In the process, we will know if we are selected in the “short list” to move on to the second stage. It will then be a question of submitting a second, more substantial “bid book” of 100 pages in the fall of 2023, of welcoming application juries to our territory for seven hours and of passing a second oral examination. The candidate city will be elected in December 2023 normally.
The Seine, the main character
In your opinion, what is the strength of the Rouen Seine Normande 2028 bid?
AR: We work on a territory larger than that of Rouen. If Rouen is the home port, it is really the whole valley of the Norman Seine, from Giverny to Le Havre, which took place in this candidacy. It is the Seine that has proven to be the main character of this story that we want to build. This vast territory around the Seine makes our candidacy more complex, but it is also what gives it its strength.
The river puts into perspective subjects that are close to our hearts in this candidacy: the challenges of the climate with the rising waters, the risks in the plural with the many industries all along the Seine but also the fractures from one bank to the ‘other. In Rouen, the divide between the right bank and the left bank dates back to the birth of the city and is emblematic of cities or countries that live with rivers. This is what we are proposing to Europe: a dialogue between rivers on a European scale. We have already created this conversation with Hannover in Germany and Aveiro in Portugal and more dialogues are coming.
What is your project budget?
AR: In the “bid book”, the budget is 80 million euros, financed by communities, the state and private patrons. We are rather in a lower range of budgets compared to previous applications.
Our goal is not to bring in big names in culture but to propose long-term projects to transform our territory in depth, notably with artistic residencies in connection with the inhabitants. We refused a long-term trajectory which has already failed with, for example, our cultural program on the barge in the fall of 2022 but also the call for applications for a European writing residency in 2023 in the Walden hut of the abbey. de Jumièges, a 20 m2 cabin to accommodate writers’ residences.
Our aim is not to change the world but to contribute to it. And what better than culture to do it?
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