Les Rencontres de la Poudrerie are a moment for reflection and co-construction, at the intersection of art forms and the practice of social life. They bring together citizens, artists, elected officials, professionals from the cultural and social fields, and researchers.
Making “participation” happen is not just a box to tick among others—one that might prevent the reproduction of dominant, hierarchical forms of artistic creation. Even with the best of intentions, we artists, cultural venues, or institutions can unknowingly fall back into the same patterns without making concrete, tangible progress in upholding cultural rights or in ensuring our creative processes have a real impact on democratic life (even though our funding comes from it!). For example, it is not enough for the themes addressed in performances to focus on societal issues (whether related to patriarchy, economic, ethnic, or political domination)—their production and distribution processes must also respect democratic principles and genuinely resonate, if not align, with the concerns of local communities.
The biennale consistently echoes the issues shaping our current times. This fourth edition will particularly invite its participants to explore and co-create tools for thought, production, and anticipation, enabling art and culture to play their essential democratic role in the life of the City today. The discussions held during this biennale will be compiled into a publication accessible to all.
These two days will be an opportunity to examine our experiences of participation and their processes, addressing the theme that will drive this fourth edition: “participatory creation as a laboratory for democracy?”.
The reflections developed during this biennale will be published online and made accessible to all.
The Rencontres de La Poudrerie 2025 are organized in partnership with the collective S-composition, which places cultural rights at the heart of each of its creative protocols, and the Ishyo Arts Centre, a Rwandan cultural organization that explores the role of art in society through its national and international projects, as well as the Observatoire des Politiques culturelles. Its program is co-developed with Benoît Labourdette, an artist and consultant in cultural innovation and digital strategies.
May 16 & 17, 2025, from 9:30 AM to 6 PM
Préau Crétier - 5 Rue Roger le Maner, 93270 Sevran
Dossier de presse - Biennale de la création participative 2025
Dossier de presse - Biennale de la création participative 2025
Friday, May 16, 2025 - Roundtable Discussions & Networking Day
9:00 AM: Doors Open – Welcome Coffee.
9:30-10:00 AM: « Participatory Creation as a Laboratory for Democracy? »
Introductory remarks by Stéphane Blanchet, Mayor of Sevran; Anita Weber, President of La Poudrerie; Valérie Suner, Director of La Poudrerie and Stage Director; and Carole Karemera, Director of Ishyo Arts Centre and Stage Director.
10:00 AM–12:00 PM: Roundtable Discussion « Documenting and Archiving Participatory Creation Processes: Why, For Whom, How? »
Documentation and archiving may seem like a “cold” topic, yet the political stakes are significant. Indeed, it involves narrating unique and unprecedented artistic and civic journeys—preserving not just the outcomes but the processes themselves. This is based on the understanding that both creation and democracy are living entities, not fixed results, as John Dewey explains in The Public and Its Problems and Art as Experience. Working on how to document and archive means shaping the narrative. The narrative symbolizes the common ground of human community, enabling the foundation of its history and legitimacy within certain frameworks. From these narratives, rules, laws, and methods can emerge. This is the very fabric of living together—that is, democracy—rooted in storytelling.
Roundtable moderated by Benoît Labourdette, filmmaker, educator, researcher, and consultant in cultural innovation and digital strategies.
With, in order of appearance:
Aliénor Fernandez, PhD candidate in theater studies, archivist for the Louis Brouillard theater company, and warehouse assistant at the BnF Performing Arts Department,
Nicole Genovese, writer and stage director, author of Avec les pieds, a play co-produced by La Poudrerie and currently being performed in homes this season,
Élise Chatauret and Thomas Pondevie, co-directors of the Babel company—she as writer and stage director, he as dramaturg,
Sonia Leplat, Director of the Maison des Pratiques Artistiques Amateurs (MPAA),
Franck Bauchard, Coordinator of Digital Cultural Policies at the DGCA’s Cross-Cutting Programs Division, French Ministry of Culture.
12:00-2:00 PM: Lunch available on-site.
2:00 PM - 4:00 PM: Roundtable discussion « How to legitimize participatory creation within institutions? »
What does it mean to be an artist today, and how should one position oneself? Should the focus be on aesthetic issues or on political ones—that is, on the life of the City? How can we work together to redefine creation in its present and future roles, and to explore institutional frameworks that lay the foundations for a more democratic society? The discussion will also broaden our reflections to a non-Western-centric perspective, in order to understand where the same challenges arise in France’s cooperation projects with non-Western countries: What is the meaning and recognition of these cultural cooperation projects? To what extent are historical patterns of domination questioned and genuinely deconstructed in these projects?
Introduction by Valérie Suner, followed by Réjane Sourisseau, Evaluation Officer, Associate Lecturer at the University of Lille and the GERiiCO research lab.
Roundtable moderated by Elizabeth Auclair, Senior Lecturer Emeritus in Urban Planning, member of the PLACES Geography and Urban Planning research lab at CY Cergy Paris Université, Vice President of La Poudrerie.
With, in order of intervention:
Laurent Roturier, Regional Director of Cultural Affairs for Île-de-France,
Pascal Le Brun-Cordier, Director of Villes In Vivo, Associate Professor at Paris 1, Consultant, Speaker, and Author (video intervention),
Fabien Aïssa Busetta, Actor, Performer, Playwright, Director, and Co-Director of Organon Compagnie, Marseille,
Sophia Akhmisse, Executive Director of the Ali Zaoua Foundation, Casablanca,
Gaëlle Mareuge, Cultural and Creative Industries Officer at the French Development Agency (AFD),
Sophie Renaud, Director of Cooperation, Dialogues, Languages, and Societies at the Institut Français, or François Tiger, Head of the Culture and Solidarity Partnerships Division at the Institut Français,
Florence Gendrier, Director of the École Nationale Supérieure d’Art de Bourges and former Regional Director of Cultural Affairs in Mayotte.
4:30 PM – 6:00 PM: Discussions, Feedback, and Development: « A Network for Participatory Creation? »
How can we defend these values, promote them, and mutually benefit from them? How can we connect, harness this shared energy for the common good and for the well-being of all? Drawing on experiences from other networks, we will use collective intelligence methods to explore the themes “Why a network?” and “How to build a network.” Collective creation of arguments, reflections on the purpose of networks, potential avenues for collaboration, and concrete plans for future meetings among participants.
Workshop led by Benoît Labourdette.
With the participation of Anne Le Gall, General Delegate and Co-founder of the TMN Lab community, the Cultural Urbanism Movement, the theater company L’âge de la Tortue, and Géraldine Bénichou, Director, Théâtre du grabuge company, initiator of a network around participatory creations in the Lyon metropolitan area.
6:00 PM - 7:00 PM: Appetizer Buffet
7:30 PM: 7 Ways to Inhabit the World – A Participatory Citizen Opera
Could we not imagine a single planet that would be desirable for all? This musical, theatrical, participatory, and immersive citizen opera offers the beginnings of an answer to this question by confronting the ecological challenges of our time. The result of two years of work, the opera’s libretto draws from the responses of residents of Rwanda, the rural area of Cornillon-en-Trièves in Isère, and Sevran to the “7 Planets” questionnaire conceived by Bruno Latour.
Saturday, May 17, 2025 - Contributive Day
9:30 AM: Welcome and Opening of the Day
Introductory remarks and presentation of the day by Jean-François Bacon, Deputy for Cultural Development and Popular Education for the City of Sevran; Valérie Suner, Director of La Poudrerie and Stage Director; and Benoît Labourdette, Artist and Consultant in Cultural Innovation and Digital Strategies.
10:00 AM - 12:30 PM: Workshops – “Participatory Creation as a Tool for Democracy?”
Introduction by Yves Sintomer, Political Scientist and Specialist in Democracy.
This morning is designed as a moment for sharing experiences, feedback, and reflections among artists, residents, cultural professionals, researchers, and elected officials who have taken part in—or wish to engage in—participatory projects. It will foster open discussions to reflect on the impact of participatory creations, both individually and collectively, with underlying questions such as:
Is participatory creation a way to experiment with democracy?
What is the impact of participatory creation on the community?
After outlining these democratic principles, participants will contribute to small-group discussions, enriching the collective reflection to demonstrate how participatory creation can serve as a tool for fostering democracy within a community.
Workshop 1: How can everyone participate in creative projects? Facilitated by Thomas Pondevie, playwright, and Zélia Clavey, Public Relations Manager at La Poudrerie.
How can we include everyone in our projects? How can we ensure that each person feels comfortable participating in collaborative creative projects? We aim to represent the issues of a community while considering all its members, particularly people with disabilities.
Workshop 2: How can emotions serve as a springboard for improving the world? Facilitated by Valérie Suner, Director of La Poudrerie and theater director; Chloé Latour, theater director; and Zoé de Tournemire, collaborator at La Poudrerie.
Theater evokes emotions, as does culture in general—and this is one of its greatest strengths. Politics, too, is a space where emotions are shaped: empathy, anger, fear, hope. How can we harness this powerful lever in a positive and democratic way? This is a classic question, explicitly addressed by both Brecht and Pirandello. In the context of participatory theater, what mechanisms mobilize emotions?
Workshop 3: Building connections. How can we come together, gather, and create lasting bonds? Facilitated by Nicole Genovese, theater director, and Charline Fortin, Public Relations and Communications Manager at La Poudrerie.
Even when we bring together or work with many different people, how can we create meaningful connections? How can we establish ritual moments that allow us to gather and collaborate across generations, neighborhoods, and associations? And how can we sustain interpersonal connections beyond projects?
Workshop 4: How can we collectively seek answers and solutions? Facilitated by Diane Chavelet, writer, and Léa Falconnet, Public Relations Officer at La Poudrerie.
At La Poudrerie, for example, we start from local issues and societal topics, then discuss them—particularly through home-based theater. The goal is to give voice to conflicts, find answers and solutions, and move beyond opinion-based debates to foster a culture of constructive discussion: debating to find solutions, drawing on the catharsis that can follow performances.
Workshop 5: How can listening to others help us shift perspectives and find consensus? Facilitated by Jean-Pierre Seyvos, composer, and Morgane Barrier, Public Relations and Communications Officer at La Poudrerie.
Reflecting on how to listen to others, understand their viewpoints, and propose areas of consensus where everyone takes a step toward the other. Where does listening take place? Who listens? In what context? We consider, for example, Hartmut Rosa’s concept of resonance: someone (a human, non-human, river, etc.) sends out a call, a person hears and understands it, and both are transformed, moving toward each other’s perspective while maintaining their own unique viewpoint.
Workshop 6: How can we take action on local issues and decisions? Facilitated by Carole Karamera, theater director (Ishyo Art Centre), and Claire Meneses, Administrator of La Poudrerie.
Through participatory creation and societal topics, we strive to ensure that projects restore agency and ultimately influence local decision-making. The Théâtre de la Poudrerie in Sevran and Ishyo Art Centre in Kigali, Rwanda, jointly developed a shared project, Kesho, which took shape in Kigali in connection with the Green City urban project and in Sevran alongside the Terre d’eaux urban development initiative—both with significant artistic and social impacts. A second phase, Kesho 2, focused on social ecology, is currently in development.
Workshop 7: How can we acknowledge everyone’s knowledge and expertise? Facilitated by Lucie Nicolas, theater director of the F71 collective, and Déborah Falcon, Production and Administration Manager at La Poudrerie.
To experience democracy, we must succeed in recognizing each person’s knowledge, skills, and expertise to foster cooperation, equip ourselves, and unite our strengths. In what capacity do you participate in a project? How is your expertise acknowledged? At what stage of participation? What obstacles exist? What impacts result?
12:30 PM - 2:00 PM: Possible lunch on-site.
2:00 PM - 5:00 PM: Workshops “Dream of a Cultural Space for Tomorrow!”
Introductory words by Carole Karemera, director, Ishyo Art Centre; Valérie Suner, Director of La Poudrerie; and Benoît Labourdette, artist and consultant in cultural innovation and digital strategies.
Introduction by Frédérique Aït-Touati, director, research director at CNRS, author of the book Théâtres du monde (éditions La Découverte, 2024). How can a space serve as a laboratory for rethinking democracy? The Théâtre de la Poudrerie in Sevran currently has no physical venue and is considering building one in the future. Using this example and drawing on other experiences in France and abroad, we will collectively explore the forms a participatory creative space could take—one that truly fosters the construction of democracy in the City, rather than simply serving as a venue for cultural activities. Together, we will outline possibilities that may be architectural, fictional, poetic, or multidisciplinary, in order to invent such a space. Each of these workshops will be a small space for production and creation.
Workshop 1: Building a Theater of the Commons Facilitated by Cécilia Delestre, set designer and costume designer, Laurent Béal, lighting designer and technical director, and Claire Meneses, administrator of La Poudrerie. Medium: The scale model.
Through the collective construction of a scale model, participants will be invited to imagine a democratic space—a place that generates new narratives.
Workshop 2: The Voice of Places Facilitated by Dorothée Zumstein, writer, and Léa Falconnet, public relations officer at La Poudrerie. Medium: Poetry, writing, text.
How did theater, the quintessential popular art form, end up becoming an intimidating threshold? Starting from this nagging question, we aim to initiate a dialogue and build bridges through this workshop. Participants will be invited to write short texts based on the following prompts: What makes a place intimidating, and conversely, what makes a place familiar or even welcoming? What kind of theater(s) inhabit our collective imagination? We will explore this question by reflecting on the places that haunt us: If you press your ear to the door, what voices do you hear?
Workshop 3: Ways of Gathering / Crafting Consensus Facilitated by Élise Chatauret and Thomas Pondevie, co-directors, writer, and dramaturge of the Babel Company, co-directors of “Our Assemblies” (being showcased this season at La Poudrerie), Martial Breton, randomly selected facilitator for the Citizens’ Convention on End-of-Life Issues, and Morgane Barrier, communications and public relations officer at La Poudrerie. Medium: Speech, debate.
How can we build consensus together? Keeping in mind the goal of creating a participatory creative space where democratic principles can thrive, this workshop will address a specific challenge by experimenting with objection-based decision-making. We will work toward agreement on how to embody these democratic values within a space—among citizens, residents, elected officials, etc.—even extending to the governance of this utopian place.
Workshop 4: Weaving Connections Through Cross-Disciplinary Activities Facilitated by Léa Gadbois Lamer, set and costume designer, Collectif F71, and Déborah Falcon, production and administration officer at La Poudrerie. Medium: Knitting, crochet.
Offering cross-disciplinary activities within cultural spaces can be a way to bring new people together and create bonds that may later translate into participatory creations. Here, we will collectively shape a space while knitting and crocheting, turning threads into connections.
Workshop 5: Musical Exploration Facilitated by Jean-Pierre Seyvos, composer, and Zélia Clavey, public relations officer at La Poudrerie. Medium: Listening, sound, voice in Louis-Armand Park.
During a walk through Louis-Armand Park in Sevran (starting at Préau Crétier), participants will be invited to sing in dialogue with the sounds of the park. We will seek to listen to the outside world, to feel the interaction with trees, birds, and the broader peripheral activities around us, and to become aware of the environment—the context that could be highlighted in a future space.
Workshop 6: Observing and Listening to the Surrounding Territory, Mapping Facilitated by Lucie Nicolas, stage director, and Charline Fortin, public relations and communications manager at La Poudrerie. Medium: Sisters’ Park. Creating a map of residents’ uses.
Starting with a walk through Sisters’ Park, we will observe the activities and movements around the Sisters’ House, which currently houses La Poudrerie, as well as in the park itself, to reflect on how to integrate a space into the reality of its territory. We will identify pathways and uses in this area to create a mapping of the space.
18h - Home Theater
This entire Biennale will be punctuated with participatory performances conceived within the Sevran area.
Two performances on Saturday evening:
Our Assemblies (Compagnie Babel): Our Assemblies draws a direct line between the National Assembly and the meeting space of a local community organization, exploring how collective decisions are made.
Blind Spot (Ishyo Arts Centre): Blind Spot addresses, through six tableaux combining theater and music, the origins and social, economic, and political implications of anti-Black racism and white privilege.
The Biennale Team
Valérie Suner, director, head of La Poudrerie, co-construction of the Biennale
Benoît Labourdette: artist and consultant, co-construction of the Biennale and its proceedings
Claire Meneses, administrator, general coordination
Déborah Falcon, production and administration manager, general coordination
Charline Fortin, public relations and communications manager
Morgane Barrier, public relations and communications officer
Fabien Luszezyszyn and Aymeric Poidevin: videographers, Biennale filming
Fred Chapotat: photographer, Biennale photography
Anita Weber, president of Théâtre de La Poudrerie, institutional relations
Elizabeth Auclair, vice-president of La Poudrerie, scientific advisor
Carole Karemera, director of Ishyo Art Centre, programming advisory partner, director of Blind Spot presented at the Biennale
Jean-Pierre Seyvos, co-director of S-composition company, programming advisory partner, composer of 7 Ways of Inhabiting the World presented at the Biennale
Chloé Latour, co-director of S-composition company, programming advisory partner, director of 7 Ways of Inhabiting the World presented at the Biennale
emmanuel vergès, co-director of the Observatoire des Politiques Culturelles, communication partner and programming advisor
