2024nanterreCité Pablo Picassofrance

les nuages de pablo

Memories of sports at the Cité Pablo Picasso, at the foot of the Tours Nuages (the “cloud towers”): photographs, sounds, stories, and a documentary, conceived as a collective archive.

“Our neighborhood is amazing. The atmosphere is friendly and excellent. Our neighborhood is beautiful and there are lots of things to see, like the Tours Nuages by the architect Émile Aillaud, and sculptures like the Serpent, the Pear, and the Turtle.”

Sports were approached as a collective phenomenon that shapes habits, encounters, and the ways people move around: informal teams, tournaments, local figures, the places where people play and the ones that have changed.

Collecting stories, recording sound, personal archives brought in by the participants, walking the places where sports happen: together, all this forms a collective archive, shared back through an exhibition on the housing estate’s fences and indoors, and through a documentary.

During the summer residency, with Authenti-Cité, participants explored the neighborhood on foot, filmed, took photographs, interviewed residents, visited the apartment of a Tower 19 resident, and listened to Hadja tell her story, going back to the cité de transit (temporary housing for families moved out of the shantytowns).

the exhibition

les nuages de pablo, wall by wall

The exhibition panels: the Nuages towers, the Pear, the Serpent, the courts, the residents, each photograph with its title and the words of the person who took it.

wall 01

la mascotte

Photo of HIPPO, the mascot of the AUTHENTICITÉ association. On the right of the photo, I'm kneeling down taking a photo. I wrecked my knees.

wall 02

terrain

In the photo you can see a court for football, or more especially basketball. Behind it you can see the hoop. You can also see two people who seem to be talking. I chose this photo because I like the effect of one white part and the other full of detail, separated as if by a flame.

la tour dix-neuf

I used to play hide-and-seek in the basement. I have lots of memories of this building.

wall 03

l’ancien poirier

“The pear passage”. Once, where this mosaic pear stands, a pear tree was planted. This pear was created by the daughter of the famous architect Émile Aillaud. I've lived here since I was three.

une tour aillaud

It's one of Émile Aillaud's Nuages Towers. In the picture, you can see a light side and a dark side. And leaves next to the tower.

wall 04

la tour du futur

This is La Défense, a huge shopping center with every kind of shop, fast food and so on. This photo shows us the difference between the two neighborhoods.

le serpent géant

In the foreground, that's me (I'm not picking my nose!), then behind you have part of the mosaic sculpture and the tallest tower in the neighborhood: number 17. I don't even know when the picture was taken, but I think I look really pretty. PS: I'm still not picking my nose!

wall 05

la bouche du serpent

Here is a photograph of the serpent's mouth. The serpent is a large sculpture with a park. The serpent park is a place to relax, where families rest and have fun. Many people in the neighborhood know this park and spent their childhood there.

le bitume et la verdure

These are two elements that live side by side in our cities. Between runaway urbanization and protecting nature, it is vital to find a balance to preserve our environment and our quality of life.

le serpent

We took this photo from above and you can see Granny Adja down below. You can also see the serpent sculpture. I chose this photo because you can see the serpent well and Hadja is tiny, it makes me laugh!

wall 06

l’art abstrait

In the photo you can see someone called Bandjougou, and the girls are Yasmine and Aya. It's me, Bandjougou, filming them. I like it because I'm in it.

wall 07

vertige

From Elie's flat. A flat just like him, which I find really beautiful and amazing. There's a great view of La Défense and, from another window, of Paris and the Eiffel Tower.

la poire

We photographed this mosaic pear. It was put here because there used to be a pear tree. I like this sculpture and that it's in our neighborhood.

tour 11 et 12

We went to Elie's, who lives in Tower 19, Demoiselle d'Avignon. I've lived in the neighborhood, in tower 11, for 11 years. I've watched the estate change. I'm happy. We're a family.

wall 08

double hh

A very rare photo of two fraternal twins. On the right Hassane and on the left Housseine. I can sort of tell them apart; they're really kind and I wish them nothing but happiness. My favorite is Hassane, but shh, don't tell.

les habitants du quartier

You can see three women in this photo: Sonia, Salika and Chaima. I chose it because that's how it is in the neighborhood. There's a family spirit. We really help each other out. I can say we're a neighborhood that sticks together.

wall 09

le stade

I scored my first three-pointer on this hoop. We played basketball with everyone every holiday. We play, we laugh, we listen to music while we play. It bothers the neighbors a bit, but sometimes they watch us play.