The artist Mantra has unveiled a monumental fresco, populated by birds and vegetation, at the heart of the new Nida social-cultural centre in Issy-les-Moulineaux, like an invitation to travel through the seasons from floor to floor. It represents local endangered species in the Issy-les-Moulineaux area, chosen by the artist with the help of the LPO Île-de-France. The fresco will be unveiled on Saturday 15 April afternoon, in the presence of the artist, COAL and the LPO. On the programme: an inaugural speech, guided tours of the fresco, and the screening of the film “Les oiseaux d’Amérique” followed by an on-set discussion with director Jacques Loeuille.

For this fifth Murs d’Audubon fresco in France, the seventh in Europe, the artist Mantra was invited by COAL and Altarea to take over the new Nida third-location centre in Issy-les-Moulineaux. Both an artist and a naturalist, like Jean-Jacques Audubon, who was passionate about entomology and butterflies, Mantra uses very precise lines that play with sharpness and blur.

Against a backdrop of lush vegetation that changes with the seasons, the Nida’s grand staircase is filled with colourful birds. They were chosen by the artist on the basis of a selection of locally threatened species in the Issy-les-Moulineaux area, compiled by the LPO Ile-de-France. The kingfisher, the barn swallow, the goldfinch, the bullfinch, the long-tailed tit and the great spotted woodpecker now accompany visitors as they ascend the hill, like an invitation to travel to the rhythm of life, and to take action to reverse its disappearance.

INAUGURATION ON 15 APRIL 2023

The fresco was unveiled on the afternoon of Saturday 15 April, in the presence of the artist, COAL and the LPO. On the programme: an inaugural speech, guided tours of the fresco, and the screening of the film “Birds of America” followed by an on-set discussion with director Jacques Loeuille.

ON THE PROGRAMME:

From 3pm to 4pm: opening speeches by COAL, Mantra and the LPO (Ligue de Protection des Oiseaux), followed by a round table discussion with these same players.

4pm to 7pm: guided tours of the fresco created by Mantra for the walls of Audubon (3 sessions of 1 hour)

> Registration for the 4pm – 5pm session
> Registration for the 5pm – 6pm session
> Registration for the 6pm – 7pm session

From 5pm to 7pm: screening of the film “Birds of America” followed by a discussion with Jacques Loeuille

NIDA, A NEW SOCIAL-CULTURAL CENTRE FOR ISSY

Nida is a 1,500 m2 social-cultural centre that opened at the end of August 2022, at the heart of the future “Issy Cœur de Ville” eco-district in Issy-les-Moulineaux. Designed by the RAAM Architecture agency, it is operated by Le Shack as a shared space with catering, meeting, reception and reading areas, exhibition and event rooms, and creative workshops for all ages: biodiversity, sewing, DIY and digital creation workshops.

MANTRA IN NEW YORK FOR THE AUDUBON MURAL PROJECT

Alongside this, Mantra was invited to paint a mural in New York, as part of the Audubon mural project and in partnership with the Fungi Foundation. Mantra’s aim with this mural, entitled ‘The journey of the wren’, was to depict a scene in which fauna, flora and fungi are represented in a symbiotic relationship.

MANTRA

Youri Cansell, known as Mantra, is a self-taught artist and naturalist fascinated by entomology, the world of insects. Drawing on childhood memories of his garden in Metz, France, he paints numerous frescoes, most often of butterflies, which he depicts in urban spaces where they are rarely seen in the wild. Sensitive to her surroundings, Mantra works with scientific precision to establish an organic relationship between her subjects and their environments.

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