Casanova Forever: Summer Exhibitions Across Languedoc-Roussillon

From June 19 to October 24, 2010, the Languedoc-Roussillon region hosted a series of contemporary art exhibitions under the title 'Casanova Forever,' curated by Emmanuel Latreille, director of the Frac Languedoc-Roussillon. The event spanned five departments, with venues in Cases-de-Pène, Mende, Narbonne, Sète, Montpellier, and Nîmes. Taking inspiration from Giacomo Casanova's 1769 journey through Languedoc, the exhibitions explored themes of libertinism, play, and memory. At the Musée régional d'art contemporain de Sérignan, 'Ecce Homo Ludens' featured works by Stéphane Bérard, Richard Fauguet, Frédéric Lecomte, and Thierry Mouillé. Tom Friedman's 'Up in the Air' at the Frac Languedoc-Roussillon translated Casanova's maxim 'My substance is my life, my life is my substance' into a spatial projection. Simone Decker's in situ work at the Carré Sainte-Anne in Montpellier covered the floor with an organic foam-like substance. Delicate references to sexuality appeared in works by Cécile Hesse and Gaël Romier at Galerie ESCA/PPCM in Nîmes, and Paul-Armand Gette's photographs at the Musée Pierre-André Benoît in Alès. At the Chapelle des Jésuites in Nîmes, Grout/Mazéas reinterpreted Casanova's escape from the Leads prison through architectural destruction. Claude Lévêque's 'The Diamond Sea' at the Centre régional d'art contemporain in Sète offered a dark, labyrinthine experience with echoes of memory and childhood, accompanied by Mahler's Adagietto.