Initiated by the Festival of Avignon in 2007, the Rencontres Européennes are devoted to discussion and debate about the European project via the prism of art and culture. Extended to embrace the Festival of Aix-en-Provence in 2008 and the Rencontres d’Arles in 2010, they represent a great opportunity for interchange between the public, artists, cultural operators, political and economic actors, and civil society. Continuing this year with a half-day session at each festival, they will be offering interviews with artists with European reputations. Artists with something to say about the big questions underlying the European project are still not being given enough attention. Intercultural dialogue, multiple identities, linguistic diversity, crossborder exchanges, cultural rights: these are the subjects that drive them, and their ideas can be enlightening for us all.
