What We're Missing
Carte Blanche at the Théâtre Public de Montreuil
Following Munstrum Théâtre, Eva Doumbia, and Fanny de Chaillé, choreographer and dancer Gaëlle Bourges was the guest of Quartiers d’Artistes #4.
Accompanied by longtime collaborators, she conceived a constellation of performances centered around a common theme: what we’re missing. The shows, talks, and performances offered were responses to certain glaring gaps. And since nothing gets solved by a gala dinner, we gathered at the TPM, the Libertalia bookstore, and the Le Méliès cinema to tackle what’s wrong.
OVTR (WE'RE GOING TO GIVE IT ALL), April 1–7, 2026
This is the story of a historic theft: the removal of one of the six caryatids supporting the Erechtheion temple in Athens, now on display at the British Museum. Despite repeated requests from Greece, the British museum continues to categorically refuse to return the statue, regularly reigniting discord between the two countries. Under the code name OVTR, the show explores this incredible theft by posing an intriguing question: what if we returned everything?
(LAURA'S CREW), April 10–16, 2026
The painting “Olympia,” painted by Édouard Manet in 1863, is widely known. Less well known is the scandal it caused at the 1865 Salon in Paris. Above all, art history has focused heavily on describing the reclining figure in the foreground and, more rarely, the woman holding out a bouquet of flowers at the foot of the bed—a woman named Laure, who lived at 11 Rue de Vintimille, near Place de Clichy and Manet’s studio: the white woman’s direct gaze has indeed generated more commentary than the black woman’s gesture. Even the cat and the flowers have been discussed more extensively.
This is, along with (La bande à) LAURA, is about reversing this trend.
BLACK PEOPLE SINCE THE FINE ARTS, event at the Libertalia bookstore, Friday, April 10, at 8 p.m.
A conversation between art historian Anne Lafont and choreographer Gaëlle Bourges on the portrayal of Black models in European art, one of the themes explored in the performance (La bande à) LAURA.
CANCELED EVENT, Saturday, April 11, at 8 p.m.
In response to the confidences slipped into the “missing” boxes: the “Missing” party, where we’ll try to fill the holes in our hearts with dance performances, culminating in a huge dance floor.
MONTREUIL, Friday, April 17, at 8 p.m.
Founded last spring, MONTREUIL is a piece that chronicles the journey of the Adelphes #3 group—a delicate examination of a group of young people who, through subtle shifts and unexpected connections, come together and drift apart: it brings together the serpentine dances of Loïe Fuller and Lady Gaga; Laban notation and Berghain, the legendary techno club in Berlin; Isadora Duncan’s wave and the war in Ukraine.
LASCAUX SUMMER CAMP, Saturday, April 25, at 4 p.m.
For a week, a group of children will immerse themselves in the show Revisiting Lascaux : the young apprentices will learn how to bring the painted animals in the famous prehistoric cave to life and will recount the story of its incredible discovery.
THE WATERMELON WOMAN, screening at Cinéma Le Méliès, Sunday, April 26, at 4 p.m.
A must-see, hard-to-find film by Cheryl Dunye (1996), in which we follow an aspiring Black, lesbian filmmaker investigating a 1930s actress who is never credited in the films she appears in, THE WATERMELON WOMAN challenges a pervasive trend: the relative or total disappearance of women artists from art history, echoing the show (The Gang of) LAURA.
Film selected and presented by Gaëlle Bourges
THE MISSING BOXES
Boxes scattered throughout various locations in the city invite residents to write down what they miss. Entrusted to small pieces of paper, this collection of things people miss will be displayed in the theater lobby and will serve as the foundation for a collective performance on the evening of April 11.
Partner venues: the TPM, the Cinéma le Méliès, and the Librairie Libertalia