Art in the Open Air 24 May to 3 June

The artists have taken over the gardens of the Maison Blanche (mairie of the 9 and 10 arrondissements) as part of the 4th Festival of Ephemeral Art. There are trees that weep, rhinos sleeping, words growing in the grass and lots more to feed your imagination. 19 artists have taken part, in partnership with selected students from the Ecole Supérieur d'Art et de Design Marseille-Méditerranée.

The gardens are open from 10 am to 6pm every day. The Maison Blanche is at 150 Boulevard Paul Claudel, Metro line 2 to Dromel then bus 16 or 16S to Claudel Mairie des 9 et 10 or Vallon de Toulouse.

A night at the museum 19 May

As part of European Museums Night, a number of Marseille's museums are hosting special events and staying open, with free access, until midnight.
At the Vieille Charité there are interviews, music workshops and performances of music and dance. You can also see the Hunderdwasser exhibition for free.
For the children there is free entry to the Preau des Accoules with it's exhibition of sculpture from the Musée Cantini.

 MAC has a Franco Tunisian poetry performance Affaires et Peines and is showing the film Premier Opus d'Amelie Deron Cordina, with free entry to the Mediterranean Approaches exhibition.
Also open are: Musée des Docks Roman (in the Panier), Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle (Palais Longchamp), Musée Grobet Labadié (near Palais Longchamp) and the Musée de Faïence (Parc Pastré).

Contemporary Art (and music) in Spring Part 2, 20 May

As part of the Spring of Contemporary Art, the American Gallery is opening a new exhibition on Sunday 20 May.  It features the work of David Scher.  The opening is from 2 - 7pm with a performance at 3pm by American Composer and banjo player Paul Ellwood. The exhibition continues until July 7 so if you can't make it to the opening, ring and arrange a visit to what promises to be an interesting exhibition in a beautiful location.

Notes by David Scher

Paul Ellwood

Contemporary Art in Spring Part 1, 17-19 May

Heigh-Ho, Heigh Ho (on rentre au boulot!), Thierry Lagalia

The fourth Printemps de l'Art Contemporain (Spring of Contemporary Art) is called Sous le Sable, Beneath the Sand. It is organised by Marseille Expos and is a three day contemporary art festival with exhibitions all over the city.  It is organised around three art tours with openings, performances and lectures, featuring

Vieux Port/Panier to Belsunce on 17 May

 Longchamp/Belle de Mai on 18 May

La Plaine Cours Julien and Préfecture on 19 May. 

The galleries are open 3pm to 7pm with "nocturnes" up to 10pm on the featured day. Entry is free. You can download a plan showing the location of the galleries from the Marseille Expos website.

Classical Persian Music 12 May

As part of the second Indo-Persian Festival, which runs until 31 May, Shadi Fathi and Djamshid Chemirani will give a performance of classical Persian music at the Auditorium, Cité de la Musique 16 rue Bernard du Bois. The concert starts at 8:30pm on 12 May and costs 14/16€.

There will be Indian food available and there is a free children's workshop at 3:30. How can you resist?

Festival of Contemporary Music, featuring the work of John Cage

From 9 to 19 May in various venues around Marseille you can hear and see performances of contemporary and experimental music and dance. The festival is organised by the Centre Nationale de Création Musicale (GMEM), and includes a sound installation on the roof of the Friche de la Belle de Mai, concerts to celebrate the centenary of American composer John Cage's birth and lots more. In all 27 events, 70 works, 40 composers, 9 new creations, 9 groups and orchestras, dance, video and a good time to be had by all.

Each event costs 6€ and the programme, with details of locations, is on the GMEM website