La Friche la Belle de Mai is a cultural centre in Marseille, located on the 45.000m2 site of the former Seita tobacco factory, a large factory complex that closed its doors in 1990. The centre was born out of an idea from Christian Poitevin, then deputy delegate for culture for the City of Marseille, Philippe Foulquié and Alain Fourneau, respectively directors of the Théâtre Massalia and the Théâtre des Bernardines. Since 2007, the centre has been run as a collective interest cooperative. It now is a place of creativity and innovation which is home to over 70 organisations and around 400 artists and creatives. The site hosts cultural festivals and events and provides workspaces for its artist residents, exhibition and performance spaces, a fablab, a restaurant, a daycare centre, and a skatepark.
In the 19th century, the Manufacture des Tabacs de la Belle de Mai was the headquarters of one of the most important tobacco factories in France, SEITA, which was also the largest employer in the city. It closed its door in 1990, leading to both economic and social impoverishment of the neighbourhood. This fitted with a trend from the 1950s onwards, in which Marseille was struck by depopulation, economic recession and unemployment. This meant that the city was perceived as a declining city that was dangerous and insecure. Brownfields, urban wastelands and degradation became part of the urban landscape. In the 1990s, however, a wave of artistic and regeneration projects began, part of the local and national planning priorities for the city. La Friche Belle de Mai was born in this context in 1992, and today it’s a flourishing site in a revitalised Marseille. [1]
The initiative of La Friche has transformed the old tobacco factory into an artistic hub, where art and culture are at the centre of activities. La Friche has renovated the former factory building in several stages since 1992. The successful bid for the ‘European Cultural Capital’ by Marseille in 2013, for which La Friche itself was an important asset, provided a further impulse for investment in the site [1]. Nowadays, La Friche houses five performance and concert halls, shared gardens, a playground, a skatepark, a restaurant and a café, a bookstore, a crèche, 2.400 m2 of exhibition space, an 8.000 m2 roof terrace (where parties, fairs, markets and exhibits take place), and various office and studio spaces. It is home to over 70 organisations, gathering around 400 artists and creatives on-site. It is an important space for artistic creation and production, as well as for training. A national training school for the performing arts, as well as an applied training school for the entertainment industries, are hosted in the complex. There are multi-use recreational areas that are popular amongst local youth. Around 600 events are hosted on an annual basis. In 2019, 450.000 visitors came in touch with La Friche’s online and offline activities. [2] The initiative pays special attention to attracting young people and families from the neighbourhood. [4]
La Friche Belle de Mai is organised as a ‘Société Coopérative d’Intérêt Collectif’, a collective interest cooperative, administered by a board of directors comprised of public and private actors. Represented on the board are users of the site, cultural operators and public institutions. La Friche is managed by a general assembly of about 40 associates divided into three colleges (contributors, management and development). [1;3;4] As part of the Euroméditerranée, an urban renewal project in Marseille, the site is owned by the City of Marseille, from whom the cooperative has a 40-year lease. [1;2;3]
Next to the cooperative, Système Friche Théatre, the initial association of cultural actors that settled in the building in 1992, still plays an important role in connecting to political, cultural and media networks. This association also rents parts of the site. [1]
Since the early 2000s, around €50.000.000 has been invested in the site to make it suitable for use. [5] Throughout the years, the initiative was able to utilise several opportunities offered by national and European funding programmes, partnering up with the Ministry of Culture and the EU for a number of projects. [1] Up until now, about 75% of the budget has originated from public funding, mainly from various local and national authorities, including the City of Marseille, the Southern Region, the Department and the French State. [4;5]
The remainder of income is created partly through organisational activities, including the rental of spaces, co-production of cultural activities and sales in the bookstore. Furthermore, the initiative receives subsidies and donations from both public and private sources.[4;5] In 2019, the initiative had an annual budget of €7.800.000, of which approximately 60% was derived from public funding and subsidies.[4]
Andres, L. (2011), Alternative Initiatives, Cultural Intermediaries and Urban Regeneration: the Case of La Friche (Marseille), European planning studies, 2011-05-01, Vol.19 (5), p.795-811, doi.org.acces-distant.sciencespo.fr/10.1080/09654313.2011.561037, accessed on 15/10/2021
La Friche Belle de Mai, organisational website, Our story, www.lafriche.org/la-friche-in-english/our-story/, accessed on 15/10/2021
La Friche Belle de Mai, organisational website, Histoire, www.lafriche.org/la-friche/histoire/ , accessed on 15/10/2021
Annual report La Friche Belle de Mai – 2019, available at www.lafriche.org/app/uploads/2020/09/rapport-2019.pdf, accessed on 13/12/2021
Personal communication with Eva Riccio, Development cooperation project officer Friche la Belle de Mai, 17/01/2022