Reading Nights 2025
As part of the 9th Nuits de la lecture, artist Fabien de Chavanes is presenting an original project with the library of the École des Mines de Paris-PS. He will be presenting ‘Polyphonie/ Agora: les voix de la bibliothèque’, a participatory performance during which texts from the collections will be read.
Visitors and actors are invited to experience a double immersion in the unique architecture of the library. An immersion in this suspended space, but also in the world of sound created by the voices coming from all sides. Everyone is invited to take part in a constantly evolving collective experience, where the senses are called upon and interpretations remain open.
The members of the group, 2 or 3 per theme, spread out on the different levels of the library, close to the shelves. Each person takes hold of a book of their choice and begins to read, more or less aloud or silently, according to their mood.
Each reader moves from one book to the next, and can also move around according to his or her interests.
The group finds its organicity, its temporality and its listening. Voices emerge from this body, blending and weaving together discontinuously as the group’s ecology dictates and as it interacts with visitors, who are free to move around the space as they please.
The library is invested like a rhizome at the heart of the School, where knowledge and uses intersect. Past, present and future are intimately linked.
The library is transformed into a laboratory, where ideas and voices resonate and respond to each other in this new Agora.
The project highlights the multiple uses of the library: heritage, circulation of knowledge and transmission.
This new experience of the library and its uses is accompanied by a desire to create new meanings and a new way of looking at things. An open-hearted operation.
As a participant, you will be invited to :
- choose and read extracts from books, aloud or quietly, as you wish,
- move freely around the space, creating a spontaneous dialogue with other readers and visitors,
- help transform the library into an Agora where voices meet and the collective imagination comes to life.
Profile of participants sought
Are you curious, like to share and have a taste for reading aloud? Then come and join us! We’re particularly looking for people who can read in one or more of these languages:
- English, German, Russian, Italian, Chinese, Spanish,
- or with an aptitude for reading mathematical or chemical formulae or computer codes.
Compulsory preparation
To create a harmonious and collective performance, two preparation workshops will be organised:
- Monday 13 January 2025, from 6.30pm to 8pm
- Monday 20 January 2025, 6.30-8pm
Participation in these workshops is essential, and we strongly recommend that you attend both. They will enable you to create a group dynamic, explore ideas and immerse yourself in the emotional and sonic world of the performance.
Practical information
- 23 January 2025, from 7pm to 9pm
- 60 Bd Saint-Michel, 75006 Paris
- Library reading room