FureurdeLire Fureur de Lire

Maison Rousseau LittératureGeneva2023 Maison Rousseau Littérature, Geneva, 2023

Nancy Huston speaking into a microphone, seated in a decorated armchair, Fureur de Lire

Description

Fureur de Lire is a literary festival organized by the Maison Rousseau et Littérature (MRL) in Geneva. The event featured over 80 activities, including 20 performances, readings, exhibitions, and workshops. The challenge was to set up an industrial space by creating two stages, a café with seating for 50, and a space for workshops, all while providing a warm atmosphere.

Audience seated at the wooden tables of the festival café

Group of participants talking during the Fureur de Lire festival

Three people rehearsing a reading, pages in hand

Reader in glasses reading a text during a performance

Reading at a table in the festival café, flowers on the tables

Red and green Fureur de Lire 2023 festival poster

Selection and reuse

In collaboration with Caritas, we selected unique furniture by thrifting over several weeks to offer a cohesive collection. The stages were furnished with large armchairs, and wooden chairs were set up in the café. All the furniture was recovered by Caritas after the event and reintegrated into its life cycle. The small tables, created from furniture destined for the scrap heap, are part of the same upcycling project. Thanks to our partnerships with local artisans, the stages were decorated with local design pieces. The ceramic furniture was created by Tiled.ch, while the ceramic vases were made by Maly Jdahim and Moosh.

Two speakers seated on stage, Fureur de Lire

Bearded speaker seated in an armchair on stage

Two people talking in armchairs on stage

Audience facing the stage furnished with large armchairs

Person browsing a table of books at the festival

Speaker standing in front of the audience, café area

Man writing at a table, plant in the foreground

Three women in a workshop around a wooden table

Branch lamp

In terms of lighting, the goal was to introduce softer light and avoid the sole use of cold white neon lights. This is how Pisoni-lab created the first Branch Lamps to add a unique touch to the whole setup. To soften the existing light, we added filters made from large sheets of colored paper, which were recovered by a high school class for visual arts courses after the event.