This year, Parallèle has imagined a new meeting space: an HQ open to everyone, from Wednesday to Friday afternoons. Launched for this edition at La Compagnie, a creation venue, this space invites artists, audiences, and professionals to settle in and exchange ideas around the performances, take part in a reading workshop, or join a round table discussion.

Programme of events at the HQ:

— Festival Library: every afternoon during HQ opening hours, Parallèle audiences are invited to consult a bibliography collectively curated by the artists and the Parallèle team, extending the works, opening up new reading pathways, and allowing the gestures presented to resonate differently.

— Thursday, January 29, 9:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
[professionals-only event]
A non-mixed meeting for racialised programmers, facilitated by Asli Ciyow.

— Friday, January 30, 10:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
[professionals-only event]
Meeting of the Be My Guest network. BMG is a European network of festivals and theatres attentive to the renewal of artistic forms and a space for reflection on professional practices connected to contemporary social issues. Each year, the network supports a project through co-production.

— Friday, January 30, 2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
[open to the public]
Meeting with Prisca Ratovonasy. She will present her project Au fil des maux de la culture, a ten-episode radio sound creation in the form of fiction that explores, within the field of the performing arts, issues related to racial discrimination and their impact on artistic paths and practices. The presentation will be followed by a discussion.

— Wednesday, February 4, 2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
[open to the public, booking required]
A writing workshop led by Shereya—choreographer, performer, teacher, visual artist, gardener, craftswoman, and post-pornographer—based on her book Oralaction / eclipse em Giambarra.

— Thursday, February 5, 10:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
[professionals-only event]
A meeting and workshop bringing together artists supported through La Relève, the Jeunes chorégraphes du Sud programme, and Futures Directions. The session will be facilitated by Anne Kerzerho.

— Friday, February 6, 2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
[open to the public]
Open to students from the Marseille School of Fine Arts and ERACM (Regional School of Actors of Cannes and Marseille): the Faire retour workshop led by artist Aminata Labor. Students from both schools are invited to take part in an immersion throughout the festival, including ten performances, an exhibition visit, and meetings with artists. The experience concludes with a workshop during which participants share and develop a narrative of their experience of Mackenzy Bergile’s work.