PRESENTATION

In becoming the European Capital of Culture in 2004, Lille and its region profoundly changed the image of the city and an entire territory. Strong images have stayed with us from this exceptional year, such as the Metamorphoses, the Parallel Worlds or the countless festivals, but it has also left a durable legacy in the form of the Maisons Folie.

Buoyed by a wonderful creative energy and extraordinary popular enthusiasm, we wished to pursue this adventure through the creation of lille3000, in order to continue exploring the cultures and complexities of our world while focusing on contemporary art, innovation and the future.
In 2006, it was the discovery of India with Bombaysers de Lille: an India in all its splendour, at the intersection of art and modernity. In 2009, Europe was placed at the heart of the festival with Europe XXL, during which Lille and the Eurometropolis opened up to the new East that had been transformed after the fall of the Berlin Wall: exhibitions, supercharged “Midi Midis”, radical productions and new venues, including the refurbished Gare Saint Sauveur.

lille3000 then took the opportunity to present important contemporary art exhibitions in Lille in an exceptional venue, the Tripostal: Passage of Time in 2007, The Silk Road in 2010 and Collector, works from the Centre National des Arts Plastiques, in 2011. This programming has based on a strong alliance between popular culture and the respect for the works of human genius in their teeming diversity.
Another recurring theme of lille3000: multiple visions of the future and the avant-garde. At the heart of this theme we find the Futurotextiles exhibition, which, since 2006, has been touring internationally in various forms that reflect the wealth of innovative textiles. In 2012, a brand new version of Futurotextiles returned to the city on the occasion of the opening of the European Centre for Innovative Textiles in the new industrial zone of Tourcoing, l’Union.

In 2012, lille3000 continued to develop and strengthen this increasingly widely-supported dynamic: a new version of the spring festival at the Gare Saint Sauveur with the Sports Factory exhibition, in partnership with the Quinzaine de l’Entorse, as well as convivial and festive events every weekend.
On 6 October 2012, the now famous opening parade launched FANTASTIC, the latest thematic edition of lille300 in the spirit of Lille Bombaysers and Europe XXL, featuring Urban Metamorphoses, major exhibitions at the at Tripostal, the Gare Saint Sauveur and in many partner cultural venues, exceptional shows, events and more. FANTASTIC explored an intriguing programme that transformed the everyday and revealed the mysteries hidden around street corners and behind the doors of familiar places. All residents in the territory were able to take part in the events that shaped the city in the course of these three months.

In 2013, lille3000 is preparing a new spring and summer season at the Gare Saint Sauveur, before returning to the Tripostal this autumn for a new exhibition inviting an major contemporary art collector.

lille3000, the journey continues...

Martine Aubry,
Mayor of Lille,

President Lille Métropole