Artists urged to shrug off Brexit blues in cross-Channel project
People in UK and France encouraged to submit work exploring new relationship between two countries
Kim Willsher in Paris
Artists on both sides of the Channel are being encouraged to beat the Brexit blues in a project exploring the new relationship between the UK and France.
I Love You, Moi Non Plus aims to highlight how the arts across all disciplines from painting, illustration, photography, music and writing can break down the borders thrown up by Britain’s departure from the EU.
A number of celebrities including Brian Eno, Ai Weiwei, Stella McCartney, Jean Paul Gaultier, Tamara Rojo of the English National Ballet and the British contemporary artist Bob and Roberta Smith have already agreed to contribute their interpretations of what the British-French relationship means to them.
However, the organisers are keen for the well known to serve as inspiration for everyone else to express themselves.
“In response to Brexit and the new borders now in place, the project seeks to highlight how art and creativity can maintain connections between communities across the Channel, unifying voices from across Britain and the EU,” said a spokesperson for the Somerset House arts centre, one of the project’s partners along with the fashion chain Dover Street Market.
I Love You, Moi Non Plus – inspired by Serge Gainsbourg’s 1969 hit with Jane Birkin – echoes last year’s lockdown competition inspired by David Hockney called Hope in Spring, dreamed up by Ruth Mackenzie, the chair of the London Arts Council.
Mackenzie is also involved in this latest project, which she said aimed to remind people that Brexit was more than “an economic catastrophe”.
“Art provides links between us that we really need right now,” she said. “But artists have had no voice in these [Brexit] discussions. As in any divorce you have to pay attention not just to the economics, but the emotional bedrock.”
Anne-Lise Coste
