Started five years ago, Le voyage à Nantes is a summer-long citywide cultural festival in the French city. Complemented by a multitude of events, a programme of site-specific works can be found among the city’s cultural and historical landmarks. Pictured: ‘Le Skate Ô Drome’ by Fichtre, 2015. Copyright Franck Tomps / LVAN

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“南特已经发生了很大的变化,”建筑师托马斯·坎丁(ThomasCantin)说。在过去12年里,他目睹了家乡城市创意社区的蓬勃发展。康廷是南特艺术家集体fichtre的一部分,它只是越来越多的创意工作室之一,他们选择把这座法国城市作为自己的家,而不是巴黎的狂热。布列塔尼出生的设计师伊莎贝尔·罗兰(Isabelle Rolland)最近从黎巴嫩经巴黎搬回了这个城市,他说:“我知道这里很舒适,离海边不远,但现在是个好去处。”“我很高兴看到这里的创意社区是如何成长的。”

一个世纪后,南特遭遇了许多不幸——在20世纪30年代,它的美丽运河被用来建造多车道林荫大道,在第二次世界大战期间,它的建筑遭到轰炸,1987的造船厂关闭了。当城市欢迎Jean Marc Ayrault成为新市长时。

1984年,一位名叫让·布莱斯(Jean Blaise)的企业家在南特创办了文化发展研究中心,他的工作给他留下了深刻的印象。为了扭转这座城市日渐衰落的命运,艾罗决定对文化和艺术进行大量投资。这笔投资获得了回报,尽管艾罗继续担任法国总理(从2012年到2014年),布莱斯(Blaise)一直是他的得力助手,但他继续了两人26年前开始的工作。布莱斯在该市举办了许多文化活动,并创建了勒里奥独特的艺术中心,现在的重点是一个名为“南特之旅”的夏季艺术节。

但是,在南特的绿线上最迷人的景象或许可以在“机器”上找到,这是一个有十年历史的项目,催生了一支庞大的机械生物舰队,其中包括一只12米高的大象,它在城市的老造船厂周围游行,一只巨大的移动蜘蛛挂在一个仓库里,一只高耸的三层海洋主题蒸汽朋克旋转木马。正是在这里的车间里,这座城市的下一个展厅即将成形-一棵35米高、50米宽的树,上面有两只机械苍鹭,它们将把观光客装在翅膀下的篮子里。

很难想象有一个城市的居民会接受如此雄心勃勃和幻想的艺术项目,但在南特,它似乎适合。在参观这座城市的艺术品时,我们当地的导游告诉我们,‘他们称我们为’ouest‘-这个成语的意思是’西部人‘,但也暗示’有点疯狂‘-南泰人骄傲地戴着这个徽章。

For 2016, over 30 artists have created new installations, including a series of posters by London-based Nantais graphic designer Jean Jullien. Pictured: ‘Recyclage’ by Jean Jullien, 2016. Copyright Franck Tomps / LVAN

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Pictured left: Aurélien Bory’s ‘Traverses’ on Boulevard Léon-Bureau disrupts the traditional straight white lines of a pedestrian crossing with a series of wiggling curves, in order to slow traffic and encourage visitors to meander as they cross. Copyright Franck Tomps. Right: since 2014, Le voyage à Nantes has offered retailers the chance to have their brand reinterpreted by selected artists. Pictured: Viva Las Vegas! by Quentin Faucompré, Olivier Texier et Pascal Lebrain, 2014. Copyright Martin Argyroglo

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The results can be seen on the creative shop signs that hang outside of store fronts throughout the city. Pictured: Viva Las Vegas! by Quentin Faucompré, Olivier Texier et Pascal Lebrain, 2014. Copyright Martin Argyroglo

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A new installation named ‘Mes tripes sont des poissons d’argent’ by Julien Salaud serves as a commentary on the bond between man and nature… Coyright Bernard Renoux / LVAN

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… A white figure stands on the diving board of Nantes’ Léo Lagrange public pool, while a shoal of silver fish spill out of his stomach and across the ceiling. Copyright Bernard Renoux / LVAN

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Seemingly toppled into the moat of the city’s Château des ducs de Bretagne, artist collective HeHe’s ‘Undercurrent’ – a sculpture of a high voltage mast – is incongruous to its surroundings. Copyright Franck Tomps / LVAN

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Laurent Perbos has conjured a subversive ping pong park that reinvents the traditional game by way of some topsy turvy new table designs. Copyright Franck Tomps / LVAN

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A gigantic Calder-esque mobile by Julien Berthier is made up of huge corrugated metal shapes cut from shipping containers and suspended by a crane in the centre of the city’s Place du Bouffay. Photography: Copyright Julien Berthier / LVAN

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‘Machines de l’Île’ is a ten-year-old project that has given birth to a fleet of giant mechanical creatures, including a 12 metre-high elephant that parades around the city’s old shipyards and a towering three-tiered sea-themed steampunk carousel. Copyright Jean_Dominique Billaud / LVAN

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Detroit Architects has joined forces with artist Bruno Peinado to create ‘Let’s walk on the moon’ – a soft silvery sphere with trampolines installed in its sunken craters. Up above, the earth hangs on an invisible wire, illuminated from within. Copyright Franck Tomps / LVAN

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This amorphous blue sculpture-cum-bar by Atelier van Lieshout popped up in the forecourt of the Architecture School in 2007 as part of the city’s Estuaire art trail project

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Also part of the Estuaire legacy, Jean-Luc Courcoult’s ‘La Maison dans La Loire’ is a partly submerged house that has been resting on the river’s bed since 2007. Copyright Bernard Renoux/LVAN

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A giant tape measure created by Lilian Bourgeat as part of Estuaire tangles itself in the courtyard of construction company Aethica. Copyright Bernard Renoux

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