S T R E E T A R T C O L L E C T I O N
N o a i l l e s, M a r s e i l l e, F r a n c e
Noailles is a district of the 1ᵉʳ arrondissement of Marseille located in the city centre. Nicknamed "the belly of Marseille", Noailles is known for its daily market on rue du Marché-des-Capucins and its many shops, some of which are very old. It is a neighbourhood with no social centre and whose housing is very poor - 80% of the inhabitants are eligible for social housing.
Wikipedia (FR)
Artistically, Noailles street art is a combination of commissioned work and graffiti, with boundaries between the two, mostly invisible. As a newcomer to the city, the confrontational nature of the artwork hit me, my reaction was disbelief, anger, disappointment and sadness at the visual destruction of the heart of the oldest city in France. I have lived in the district for nearly two months and plan to return in the New Year. To my surprise, my attitudes imperceptively softened to benign tolerance and later to delight in colour, form, wry observations, fun and laughter slathered over everything.
To put this into perspective. French cities, towns and villages are characterised by remarkable diversity, frequently ancient, ascetically impressive and beautiful buildings of many architectural styles, colours, shapes and sizes. Noailles is a really big exception. Underneath their colourful clothing the buildings are as elsewhere in France but the Artwork, changes everything, as in Banksy’s words, boldly unapologetically the built environment has been reclaimed by ‘ordinary people.’
And now ……
It feels like home to me
It feels like home to me
It feels like I'm all the way back where I've come from
It feels like home to me
It feels like home to me
It feels like I'm all the way back where I belong.
Josh Groban 2001
Noailles, amongst ordinary people, is where I too belong.
Kenneth Edward Adams
