Key elements

Creation: 2010 Participants: 5 permanent employees. More than 20 people are working with us all along the year: Musicians, instruments makers, composers... Public entities associated to the project: Approximately 10 financial partners - Public Government/ Cultural service of the region Ile de France/District of Seine Saint Denis/ City of Bagnolet Public entities associated to the project: Private Foundations Website: http://www.lutherieurbaine.com/ http://lutherieurbaine.wordpress.com/

The idea

FOr 12 years the organisation has developed an artistic and social project, carrying out arts education and workshops with all kinds of people. Since 2006, the LULL (art centre of Lutherie Urbaine) is inviting artists to set up residencies, proposing artistic workshops about musical creation and sustainable development. Lutherie Urbaine has three aims:

  • 1.) Cultural and artistic mission
    • A place for experimentation, for research in instruments made from waste, sonore art and performances, exhibitions, pluridisclinary creations and artistic exchanges;
    • An instrumental ensemble including 3 to 10 musicians: "The Urbs";
    • Co-realisation and co-production of musical creations and performances from artistic teams concerned with sound and sustainibility.
  • 2.) Social mission
    • To give to those who otherwise could not achieve access to musical creation;
    • Encourage inter-generation exchanges, creativity;
    • Discover new / other musical forms and new musical instruments through artistic exchanges with distant cultures.
  • 3.) Educational mission
    • Release musical talent through non-academic, practical activities. Make children and all people aware of the world of sound through instrument-making and practicing music. Encourage invention and expression.

Context

The establishment of Lutherie Urbaine, Le LULL, is small (fifty persons in the audience), with a space of 300 m2 for artistic residencies, pluri-generational workshops, professional formation. This space is situated close to Paris, in a city called Bagnolet. We work with local organisations, schools, kindergardens, disability school institutes...

The starting point

The first ideas for this project was to make music with everybody, to develop music research, making new instruments with recycled materials. Lutherie Urbaine, basic principles are: 1. To collect and recycle waste products; 2. To imagine and build original musical instruments; and 3. To create and perform multi-disciplined, multi-cultural, original musical works.

How does it work

Lutherie Urbaine develops activities in different ways:

  • concerts / shows with professional musicians; conducting research in making instruments from garbage; and
  • Workshops in music or instrument-making for the public: local organisations, schools, kinder garden, schools for disability, cultural centres. These contribute to the creation of social links, social meetings.

We are 5 people working in this organisation, developing partnerships and projects, concerts, activities, in collaboration with artists, the public and local organisations.

Participation

Artists, citizens, members and public institutions are all involved in this project.

Contribution to the community

Lutherie Urbaine develops musical projects for all kinds of groups and individuals, proposing to collaborate in artistic creation. One of our principal goals is to provide access to music for everybody.

  • Inter-generational exchange (children and adults);
  • Non-academic method of learning (oral/ games);
  • Workshop in instrument-building;
  • Workshop in musical practice;
  • Musical creations with professional artists;
  • We perform a lot of concerts and shows with the participation of non-professional musicians. We carry out workshops, and the end of concerts with both non-professional and professional musicians are always cheerful and uplifting;
  • Develop ecological activities;
  • To collect and recycle waste products; and
  • Members contribute by giving all kinds of used materials: woods, plastics, old instruments, in order to create new instruments.

Challenges

We would like to develop our project with other partners in a bigger place, to have more space for all our materials (instruments/ materials…), where we can receive a larger audience.

Proposals

Increase the membership of our organisation, and encourage their participation in Lutherie Urbaine’s activities.

Future perspectives

In the years to come, Lutherie Urbaine will develop a European project on “instrument-making with recycled materials”. The project will focus primarily on sharing knowledge about instruments made from recycled materials, and arts education. We will create European exchanges with two organisation partners, Riciclato Circo Musicale (Italy) and Curieux Tympan (Belgium) to share best practices and know-how, emphasising complementarities, thinking about how to expand and identifying new ways to link communities and artistic projects.