Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat station by the Lumiere BrothersMajor world figures with a strong Provence connection are spotlighted this month, from architect Le Corbusier to the film-making Lumière Brothers and writers James Joyce, Jean Cocteau and Albert Camus.

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Extra events will be announced in the course of the summer and autumn, so keep a close eye on this space for new additions. And click here to read our September diary for Marseille-Provence 2013 European Capital of Culture. 

For the full programme (many, though by no means all, pages are now finally translated into English), see the website for Marseille-Provence 2013: European Capital of Culture.

Visitors to Marseille should also head for the new temporary Pavillon M on the place Villeneuve-Bargemon just off the Old Port, which is a primary source of information (the main Tourist Office at 11 la Canebière will be open as usual too).

Le Routard guide to MP2013If you read French, you might be interested in Le Routard Marseille, Provence 2013, capitale européenne de la culture, a very comprehensive book-length guide to what's going on.

1-9 October At the Grand Théâtre de Provence, Les Nuits, the latest creation of the Aix-based choreographer Angelin Preljocaj is inspired by One Thousand and One Nights, the legendary collection of Scheherazade's stories, as well as by paintings on the subject.

5 October Most visitors to Provence don't make it to the oil refineries of Port de Bouc, to the west of Marseille.

But, just for one night, this gritty, highly industrialised urban zone is the glamorous star of La Nuit Industrielle (Industrial Night), with concerts, son et lumière shows, guided visits and more.

5 October The Fête du Train promises to be a perfect day out for families and/or train enthusiasts, and tickets are free to the first 400 applicants. It begins with a self-styled "magic train", inspired by Harry Potter's legendary Hogwarts Express.

This train - towed by a restored CC 6570 locomotive - leaves from Marseille Saint Charles station rather than from King's Cross at 9.30am and arrives in Miramas, a major railway junction in the region, just under an hour later (breakfast, also free, is served on board).

Poster for the 2013 Fete du Train in MiramasHere several dozen activities and attractions await. Learn how to operate a points box, drive a computer-simulated train - or a real one, admire a selection of model railways, watch train film clips in a special cinema wagon, take a ride on the little tourist train or a spin on a specially installed Vélorail, a sort of giant bicycle that runs along railway tracks.

The magic train departs at 6.35pm back for Marseille where it arrives around an hour later. To apply for tickets for the Magic Train to Miramas, fill in the form on the website for the 2013 Fête du Train. Or go to Miramas under your own steam, as it were, on a regular train or by car (free parking is available at the station).

5 October-5 January 2014 The Cité du Livre in Aix en Provence is offering a major exhibition, Albert Camus, Citoyen du Monde (Albert Camus Citizen of the World) to celebrate the centenary of the writer's birth. It includes hand-written manuscripts, author's proofs, first editions and photographs, along with multi-media elements. Admission free.

9 October The Eden Théâtre in La Ciotat claims to be the oldest cinema in the world. The reason? The Lumière Brothers, the great pioneers of early film-making technology, spent their summers in this coastal resort for decades and made and showed some of their most famous films there.

In 1895 they shot one of their most famous early shorts in La Ciotat, L'arrivée d'un train en gare de La Ciotat (The Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat Station), pictured top left.

Closed since 1995, the Eden Théâtre has been extensively restored and reopens its doors to the public from 9 October to screen films once again in an important occasion for film-lovers and -historians worldwide. Read more about La Ciotat, Cinema and the Lumière Brothers

11 October-22 December Closed throughout the summer, the J1 Hangar in Marseille - a former ferry terminal temporarily converted into an arts space for the Capital of Culture year - reopens with the major show of the autumn in Provence, Le Corbusier et la question du brutalisme (Le Corbusier and the Question of Brutalism).

Le Corbusier ceramicAlso entitled, more succinctly, LC at the J1, this really is a must-see, a revelation that Le Corbu was much more than an architect or interior designer.

On display at the J1: his ceramics (one of those on display is pictured), tapestries, enamels, wooden sculptures, cubist paintings, even erotic sketches... the range of his artistic interests is amazing.

The exhibition focuses on the later part of Le Corbusier's career and shows how, in this mature period, he developed a new aesthetic which critics - positive as well as negative - dubbed "brutalism": an approach to architecture born of a synthesis of all the arts.

Which is not to say that his architectural work is neglected. Maquettes, cross-sections, plans and sketches, photographs and films all trace the key building achievements of this period.Le Corbusier at the J1 Terminal Marseille

Le Corbusier has a close connection with Marseille. He regularly sailed from the port (just a few metres from the J1 Hangar) for Algeria, where he was working on architectural projects, or for Athens, where he participated in the 1933 Congress of Architects, an event which had a major impact in shaping his ideas.

And, constructed in 1947-1952, the architect's Radiant City experimental housing, pictured, made his name internationally. Enormously influential, it is still one of the most desirable addresses in town for people to live at today.

The Radiant City MarseilleCurated by the Marseille architect and Le Corbu expert Jacques Sbriglio, the exhibition at the J1 is superbly presented, with clean uncluttered lines, well-chosen, clear bright colours and an impressive attention to detail: for example, light projections on the floor in each room evoke Le Corbusier's espousal of the Golden Ratio theory which influenced his designed for the apartments in the Radiant City.

The informative signage in each room is in French and (for a change, well-translated) English.

Whereas the previous show at this venue blacked out the windows, LC at the J1 is surrounded by luminous open views to the port and the sea that inspired the architect's vision. It's the last important event in this unusual and evocative space, which looks likely to be reclaimed for commercial port activities after the end of the year. Unmissable!

12 October-11 January 2014 At the Alcazar in Marseille, as well as in Vitrolles and Miramas, Les Expéditions Imaginaires (Imaginary Expeditions) bring to life some incredible landscapes out of classic children's books such as Alice in Wonderland, Robinson Crusoe and Harry Potter. Read more about the Imaginary Expeditions programme.

Fiesta des Suds 2013 logo18-26 October The Fiesta des Suds has been a highlight of Marseille's autumn scene ever since 1992. It describes itself as a mix of carnival, local festival, oriental nouba, féria and, not least, celebration of contemporary music from France and all over the world.

IAM, Marseille's most famous rap / hip-hop band, headline at the opening night and the subsequent line-up includes such attractions as Che Sudaka, Africa Express, Kassav, Monophonics, Temenik Electric, Chinese Man Records, Gilles Peterson, Django Django and more.

25 October-23 February 2014 La Provence, ses peintres et ses poètes (Provence, its Painters and Poets) is a new show at the Musée Regards de Provence in Marseille about artists and writers who were inspired by Provence at a certain point in their personal development, including Apollinaire. Braque, Camus, Cartier-Bresson, César, Cocteau and Joyce.

27 October-8 November The Fiesta des Minots ("minot" is a local slang word for "kid") offers a programme of puppet shows, silent films, story readings, animated movies and even a mini rock festival for children at locations around Aix en Provence, Arles, Marseille, Martigues, Port de Bouc and Salon de Provence.

Ongoing Events

Until 6 October Septembre en Mer (September by the Sea) offers a hugely popular and eclectic programme of over 300 marine-themed events in Marseille and the surrounding coastal area

It encompasses everything from seafood feasts and scuba diving lessons to shipyard visits and excursions to the Riou or Frioul Islands in traditional boats. If previous years are anything to go by, it's advisable to book well in advance for some of these activities.

Until 6 October The second show at the Musée Regards de Provence is Cassis, port de la peinture au tournant de la modernité (Cassis, Port of Art on the Cusp of Modernity). It explores modernist art in the town of Cassis, which will also stage its own sister-exhibition at its Musée d'Arts and Traditions Populaires.

Concurrently the Musée Regards de Provence has an exhibition dedicated to the provençal sculptor Bernar Venet, who also has a giant installation, pictured, on show in the gardens of the Palais du Pharo. The Venet show continues until 13 Oct.

Paul Signac Women at the WellUntil 13 October: Le Grand Atelier du Midi is a huge and ambitious exhibition in two venues in Marseille and Aix en Provence.

The title comes from a quote by Vincent van Gogh, who dreamed of creating a community artists working together in the light and colour of the South when he briefly shared a house in Arles with Paul Gauguin.

While other shows in the region throughout 2013 are touching on the same theme, this is the big one, with nearly 200 works by major artists including Renoir, van Gogh, Gauguin, Bonnard, Cézanne, Dufy, Matisse, Picasso, Dali and many more.

They were created mainly between 1880 and 1960, though there is the odd later piece too. Pictured: Women at the Well by Paul Signac (1892), Musée d'Orsay, Paris.

The works are on loan from major museums around the world (the Musée d'Orsay, in particular, will have quite a few gaps on its walls this summer) and the main signage is in English and Spanish as well as French.

The aim is to explore how the South, mainly the South of France, but also Spain, Italy and North Africa, inspired these artists to develop Impressionism, Fauvism, Cubism and other revolutionary languages of modern art.

The show at the newly reopened Musée des Beaux Arts at Marseille's Palais Longchamp, pictured, is themed around colour and the central figure of Vincent van Gogh, whose intense visions inspired the Expressionist, Pointillist and Fauvist movements, among others.

Meanwhile, over at the Musée Granet in Aix en Provence, Cézanne's exploration of form is shown to lead to Cubism and Surrealism.

A smaller ancilliary show at the Musée Ziem in Martigues looks at works by Raoul Dufy painted at locations on the Blue Coast between Martigues and L'Estaque.

Until 13 October The conceptual artist Bernar Venet, who was born in Château Arnoux in Haute Provence, was invited to install a very large-scale work in the Jardin du Pharo, a park overlooking the Old Port of Marseille and surrounding the Palais du Pharo, itself recently the subject of renovation.

Desordre Bernard Venet Marseille 2013Pictured, Venet's piece, called Désordre (Disorder) consists of a huge interlocking cluster of his trademark monumental arches.

Until 13 October Aubagne, a centre of terracotta in its own right, is hosting a major show celebrating Pablo Picasso's Mediterranean-themed ceramics.

After the Second World War until the end of his life, the artist experimented with this medium, employing themes with a Southern flavour: ancient myths, the sun, bullfighting, doves and olive trees and, as always, women.

Some 150 pieces are featured, many of them from private collections, principally the Picasso estate, and have never seen before on public display. Chapelle des Pénitents Noirs, Aubagne.

 

Until 15 October All around the spectacular landscapes of the Camargue, Arles and the Rhône delta, Les Grands Chemins d'Envies Rhônements are a series of contemporary art installations and hiking trails with - as the punning title of the event hints - an environmental theme.

Until 20 October A show of the artist Raoul Dufy's work at the Musée Ziem in Martigues is a complement to Le Grand Atelier du Midi in Marseille and Aix.

Until 20 October At Marseille's Museum of Contemporary Art, or [MAC], Le Pont (The Bridge) is an exhibition of work by artists from the Mediterranean region.

Until 31 October An unusual concept is at the centre of a major show at the Musée Réattu in Arles, Nuage, or Cloud. The exhibition showcases exactly that: clouds in Eastern and Western art, both classic and contemporary.

It features Chinese pottery pillows in the shape of clouds, over 150 works by René Magritte, Salvador Dali, Man Ray, Andy Warhol, Anselm Kiefer, Cornelia Parker, and more. Website for the Musée Réattu, Arles

Until 3 November At the Chapelle des Pénitents Bleus in La Ciotat, a show is devoted to the Lumière Brothers' experimental Autochrome process, an early form of colour photography used by both themselves and their contemporaries. Read more about the Lumière Brothers in La Ciotat.

Until 15 December Créer pour résister (Create in Order to Resist) Between 1939 and 1942, the Camp des Milles, just outside Aix en Provence, was an internment camp for political dissidents, artists and intellectuals and, finally, Jews about to be deported to Auschwitz. Some of the amazing murals created by artist-prisoners can still be seen on its walls.

This temporary exhibition celebrates the creativity under extreme duress of four painters interned at Les Milles: Hans Bellmer, Max Ernst, Ferdinand Springer and Wols.

It consists of around 50 of their works, as well as previously unpublished documents and archive footage. Pictured, Tête de Femme sur une Tour / Woman's Head on a Tower (circa 1940) by Bellmer.

 

 

Until 5 January 2014 A retrospective is dedicated to the sculptor César at the Musée Cantini in Marseille. César Baldaccini - to give him his full name - was born in Marseille on 1 January 1921 and grew up in the factories and warehouses of the Belle de Mai neighbourhood in the north of the city, where his father ran a bar. He died in Paris on 6 December 1998.

Le Pouce in Marseille by CesarPart of the Nouveau Réalisme (New Realism) movement, along with Arman, Yves Klein and others, César is celebrated for his sculptures made of scrap metal, in particular compressed cars.

He also created the trophy for the César Awards (France's equivalent of the Oscars) which are, in fact, named after him. His giant thumb (Le Pouce), pictured, sits on the roundabout on the avenue de Hambourg near the Musée d'Art Contemporain [mac] in the south of Marseille (another of his thumbs can be seen at La Défense in Paris).

Until 5 January 2014 A new version of the hugely popular son et lumière show at the Quarries of Lights (formerly known as the Cathedral of Images) links into the overall Mediterranean theme of Marseille-Provence 2013 European Capital of Culture.

Called Monet, Renoir... Chagall. Voyages en Méditerranée (Voyages to the Mediterranean), it explores how the luminous colours of the Mediterranean, from the Spanish border to the Italian Riviera, have attracted painters throughout the 19th and 20th centuries.

Until January 2014 The MuCEM (Musée des civilisations de l'Europe et de la Méditerranée, or the Museum of European and Mediterranean Civilisations), Marseille's showpiece new museum, is now open with a permanent exhibition of artefacts from around the Mediterranean.

The MuCEM Marseille by nightThere are temporary shows too. The first two of these are Le Noir et le Bleu, un Rêve Méditérranean (The Black and the Blue, a Mediterranean Dream), which looks at artists' visions of the future across countries and centuries and the curiously named Le Bazar du Genre (The Gender Bazaar), which investigates traditional concepts of gender and sexuality in different Mediterranean cultures.

Pictured, the building itself, designed by Rudy Ricciotti, is well worth a visit, as are the landscaped gardens in the adjacent Fort Saint Jean.

Click here to read our November diary for Marseille-Provence 2013 European Capital of Culture

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