Blood antiquities: The complicity of western museums in the Syrian conflict
When we think of war, we think about destruction. However, there is often a silent war against memory. The conflict that ravages Syria since 2011 has not only tragically displaced and killed millions, but has also erased a good part of Syrian’s historical heritage, that is to say the cradle of civilization. This allowed the Read more
The Louvre heist: how 7 minutes shook the world of cultural heritage
Thieves stole Empress Eugénie’s necklace from the Louvre in seven minutes, exposing critical security gaps. The theft shattered more than glass – it violated the artworks’ « aura » that Walter Benjamin described. These jewels are vessels of national memory; their loss erases pages from France’s material autobiography. The treasures will likely be disassembled, their provenance destroyed. Despite planned security upgrades, implementation failed. While technology like microtagging helps, true protection requires treating heritage as shared identity rather than power symbols. The empty display case reminds us that value lies not in carats, but in memory – making vigilance an act of collective care. Read more
Le Voyage en Hiver, much more than just a Christmas market!
Since last Saturday, the buildings of Nantes are shining, new sculptures have appeared in the streets and people are wandering from cottage to cottage with cups filled with mulled wineat Place Royale. It’s the beginning of the winter, and most importantly, the beginning of Le Voyage en Hiver (Winter’s journey)! In fact, this colourful and Read more
Death of albums or death of our attention span?
25, Super Trouper, Hit Me Hard and Soft, Igor or American Idiot, I could go on and on about my personal iconic albums. What about you? When was the last time you found yourself listening to a full-length album of an artist, with no break or song skipped? This may sound like an odd question Read more
From La Dolce Vita to La Grande Bellezza: Fifty Years of Italian Splendor and Melancholy
Italian cinema has always possessed a rare gift: the ability to turn life itself into a spectacle, and the spectacle into a meditation on life. From Il Sorpasso to 8½, from La Dolce Vita to Cinema Paradiso, Malèna, and La Grande Bellezza, we travel through more than half a century of Italian history and yet, Read more
A concert for students that highlights the saxophone
On Wednesday 5 November, the Pays de la Loire National Orchestra (ONPL) gave its special student concert to mark the start of the season. The programme featured over an hour of classical music without an interval, exclusively for students who filled the concert hall at La Cité des Congrès, attracted by the chance to listen Read more
A paradoxe of writing : it disappears when we can understand it, and only appears once we face an unknown one
Writing, when it works, disappears into reading. — paraphrasing Roland Barthes thesis in The Degree zero of writing, 1953. When faced with a stele covered in hieroglyphs, an ancient Chinese manuscript, or a Linear A tablet, something happens. Writing lies before us, familiar in its materiality : lines, strokes, columns, engravings, yet utterly foreign. We read Read more
Music streaming: innovation, cultural monitoring, and human-driven solutions
Digital Communities and the Birth of Streaming At the end of the 1990s and the dawn of the 2000s, music became one of the first fields to experiment with digital culture. Whether on forums, sharing sites, or peer-to-peer (P2P) platforms, self-organized and self-regulated communities emerged: uploaders, curators, collectors, and enthusiasts. Even today, these communities persist, Read more
How Brands Use TikTok and Instagram to Build Cultural Identity
I was scrolling through TikTok one night — just mindlessly switching from one short video to another — when a Gucci post suddenly stopped me. It wasn’t a typical luxury-brand ad: no polished studio light, no model’s perfect smile, just a quick, messy, almost spontaneous clip. But somehow, it felt intentional. That raw, unfiltered energy Read more
Discover “Sous la pluie” — When Art Meets Rain in Nantes
“Sous la pluie. Peindre, vivre et rêver” — When Art Meets Rain in Nantes I really like rain. When I was a child, I always enjoyed sitting in the classroom watching the raindrops fall on the leaves outside the window, often getting distracted during lessons. I loved sharing an umbrella with classmates to walk to Read more