Baudriller and Archambault's Decade at Avignon Festival

After the 2003 cancellation due to the intermittent workers' strike, Vincent Baudriller and Hortense Archambault took over the Festival d'Avignon in 2004, succeeding Bernard Faivre d'Arcier. Their 67th edition in 2013 marked their final year. Georges Banu reflects on their ten-year tenure, highlighting a dual directorship with an annual associate artist—starting with Thomas Ostermeier and Sasha Walz in 2004, followed by Josef Nadj (2006), Romeo Castellucci (2008), Wajdi Mouawad (2009), Christoph Marthaler (2010), Simon McBurney (2012), and others like Boris Charmatz, Olivier Cadiot, Valérie Dréville, and Frédéric Fisbach. The 2005 edition, featuring Jan Fabre, sparked controversy and shifted media coverage from culture to society pages. The festival showcased artists such as Krzysztof Warlikowski, Pippo Delbono, Guy Cassiers, Ivo van Hove, Angélica Liddell, and Katie Mitchell. Notable productions included 'Apollonia', 'La Chambre d'Isabella', 'Les Tragédies romaines', 'La Divine Comédie', 'Le Maître et Marguerite', 'Je suis sang', 'Schutz vor der Zukunft', Mouawad's trilogy, 'Casa de la Fuerza', and 'Urlo'. The festival also inaugurated FabricA, a 9,000m² architectural complex designed by Maria Godlewska, on July 5, 2013. Baudriller and Archambault's approach was marked by radical choices, no compromise, and a focus on existential and moral engagement, resisting both ecumenism and dogmatism.