As part of the Comédie du Livre, from May 16 to 19, 2024, at the En traits libres bookshop, 1 rue Voltaire, Montpellier.

THURSDAY MAY 16

EXHIBITION: 6pm, Opening of the Tax x Ben Sanair exhibition, May 16 to June 29
This year, and for the first time, the Comédie du Livre is hosting the Grand Prix de l'Imaginaire, which will be celebrating its 50th anniversary in Montpellier, in the presence of its founder, Jean-Pierre Fontana, numerous prizewinners and guests, and its jury chaired by novelist Joëlle Wintrebert. On this occasion, we'd like to introduce you to two atypical and complementary imaginary worlds: the work of Ben Sanair and Takuma Shindo, aka Tak.
Ben Sanair is an artist and screen printer. He lives and works in the south of France. His work is regularly exhibited in France and abroad, including Berlin, Tokyo, Barcelona, Hiroshima, Lithuania, Latvia and Taiwan. A creative who manufactures", Ben Sanair loves inks, machinery and everything to do with matter. Influenced by underground literature, DIY culture, toys of all kinds, monsters of all kinds, folk art and art brut, his drawings and sculptures reveal imaginary worlds, between futuristic horizons and catastrophic visions.
Takuma Léo Shindo is a Franco-Japanese artist. He works mainly on wood and linoleum, using washi paper (traditional Japanese paper) and a baren (Japanese hand tool used in traditional printmaking). He draws his inspiration from both his Western and Japanese cultures. Sometimes he also works with brush and Indian ink or pen. Alongside his illustration and printmaking activities, he is a musician, and since 2011 has been accompanying comic book artist Adrien Demont in graphic and musical performances.

CONCERT DESSINE: 8:30pm, tAk & Demont "Murmurations" drawing concert
Murmurations is a show in perpetual motion, in which Takuma's music unfolds like a soundscape over which Adrien, according to his inspiration, gives birth to moving lines and shapes, transforming from landscapes to characters on horizon lines. Their two worlds intertwine, and each movement of matter is transformed in an instant into an unexpected image, capable of arousing astonishment, wonder and emotion, like the murmurations of birds, these aerial ballets drawing moving shapes in the sky.Murmurations is also the title of Takuma Shindo's latest musical album, released under the name tAk by Japanese label Dewfall Records (available on music streaming sites). To coincide with its release, tAk & Demont have embarked on their 3rd tour of Japan in autumn 2023.

FRIDAY MAY 17

WORKSHOP: 2pm/5pm, engraving and silkscreen workshops with Takuma Shindo and Ben Sanair

HIP HOP BATTLE AND EXHIBITION: 6pm, Tribe Tales (hip hop battles organized by Breakers) and opening of Chloé Wary's exhibition based on her comic strip Rosigny Zoo.
BREAKERS collective sets up in Montpellier with the Tribe Tales event! A breaking, festive, exhibition and cultural event!
Outside - FOOTWORK & TOPROCK 2vs2 JAM
18h-20h JAM, CYPHERS & QUALIFICATIONS
Registration on site! Come with your buddy. 2h of circles to qualify for the 2 vs 2 - footwork & toprock that follows.
Exhibition by illustrator Chloé Wary, creator of Rosigny Zoo, Saison des Roses and many other books! Come and discover her world inspired by her beloved Parisian suburb.
8-9pm BATTLE TOP 8
After 2 hours of circles, it's time for the battles! To leave the neighborhood in peace, we're moving inside the bookshop. The 8 pairs selected in the circles will battle it out through to the final!
9-11pm LET'S GROOVE & PARTY!

SATURDAY MAY 18

WORKSHOP: 2pm/5pm, engraving and silkscreen workshops with Takuma Shindo and Ben Sanair

SHOW: 8pm, "Une île à la mer" play
When Jean-Marc Marq, the businessman, meets Jérôme Petitpas, the poet, you quickly realize that these two aren't likely to have much to say to each other. But the meeting takes place on a tiny desert island where both are shipwrecked... Jean-Marc Marq has just swum to the island, while Jérôme Petitpas has been living there alone for several years, all his companions having drowned or been eaten by sharks. Théophile Chevaux and Léo Bahon have taken Nicolas Poupon's comic strip of the same name, published by 6 Pieds sous terre, and adapted it into a playful, light-hearted theatrical form in which two characters with diametrically opposed worldviews are forced to come to terms with the hostility of the place and events. The island's few square meters become a playground for actors, where the slightest grain of sand becomes the stuff of dreams for the two castaways. Between searching for buried treasure, creating a musical featuring sharks, writing distress messages that are constantly erased by the wind, or listening to the sounds of the ocean in the hollow of a shell, the daily life of the two castaways is no picnic.
As their last chance of salvation slips away, a strange friendship takes shape, against the backdrop of a wager on the absurd as a means of escaping despair. Bathed in a live musical creation, where the shrill strokes of the electric guitar meet the deep vibrations of the bass, "Une île à la mer" presents a collaboration as zany as it is unexpected. The creation of the show is planned in partnership with the bookshop En traits libres as part of the 39th Comédie de Livre de Montpellier in May 2024.

SUNDAY MAY 19

SHOW: 4pm: "Une île à la mer" play

+ Signings, in the bookshop and at our stand on the esplanade du Peyrou, by Fabcaro, Fabrice Erre, B-gnet, Guillaume Bouzard, Gilles Rochier, Chloé Wary, Adrien Demont, Takuma Shindo, Ben Sanair, Nicolas Poupon, Mattt Konture
Website: https://www.entraitslibres.wordpress.com
E-mail: [email protected]
Telephone: 06.59.29.16.99