Villa Gillet at 25: Guy Walter on Lyon's Intellectual Laboratory

Guy Walter, director since 1989, recounts the founding and evolution of Villa Gillet, a Lyon institution dedicated to transdisciplinary humanities, philosophy, literature, and contemporary culture. Created in 1987 by regional vice-president Jacques Oudot, with support from mayor Michel Noir, the Villa launched its programming in 1989 with no model. Walter's first event in April 1990 was a play by then-little-known Elfriede Jelinek, 'Au pays. Des nuées,' directed by Anne Dimitriadis. Over 25 years, the Villa has hosted figures like Yves Bonnefoy and Roberto Juarroz, published 'Cahiers de la Villa,' and expanded internationally with the 'Walls and Bridges' program in New York, partnering with Time Out and n+1 magazine. In fall 2012, the Villa launched 'Mode d'emploi,' a major festival of humanities and philosophy, following the success of the 'Assises internationales du roman' with Le Monde. Walter also directs Les Subsistances, a separate experimental performing arts venue. The Villa operates from a historic bourgeois mansion on the Croix-Rousse, originally owned by the Gillet family (of Rhône-Poulenc).