Sylvia Varagne

Atypical. This is the word chosen by Sylvia Varagne to characterize her career:"I have had several lives in one life". During her studies, she entered the CFJ school of journalism in Paris, hoping to become an image reporter, then worked for a while as a freelance cameraman. At the same time, she directed short films and wrote scripts. Recruited by the Palais de Tokyo in 2011, she first wanted to continue to practice behind the camera. But two events will make her develop a real passion for contemporary art.

While visiting the Cité Internationale des Arts in Montmartre, she met the contemporary artist Laurent Derobert. At his side, she attends performance evenings, narrative events that tell stories through different works. There she met many foreign artists, who made her want to dig into her Dominican roots. Sylvia is interested in ancestral rites and voodoo, which she brings to light through collective exhibitions on video. Then, in 2018, it is as Artistic Director of the Marée Basse festival in Trouville-sur-Mer, a project by Kirill Ukolov, that she takes the measure of the potential of the beach as a space of creation and expression for contemporary artists, a public square open to all. In the hope of organizing a festival dedicated to them, she is interested in the beach of Deauville and its seafront, sublimated by Charles Adda."I wanted to highlight these spaces that deserve a deserved visibility, especially the Pompeian baths. Too often, people pass by without even looking".

L'Appel du Large was born out of his love for Deauville. A multidisciplinary festival focused on art for all, where every passer-by, whether sensitive to contemporary art or not, can approach the works and the artists through a sensitive program. "I know the feeling one can get when discovering a new art for the first time, that's what I want to provoke in the general public".

For this first edition, twenty-eight artists, mostly from the art of graffiti, come to invest the beach, the cabins, the Pompeian baths and Les Franciscaines. Through a narrative path, the public evolves through the works, beginning in a world without horizon to end in an optimistic world. The horizon is the theme chosen for this year. This word is an infinite world of definitions: originally, it meant "to draw a line" in Greek. But from the 17th century, when man discovered the world, its meaning changed and defined the opening, the perspective, the future:"The idea of the horizon came to me very naturally. It is a resonance with current events; in this period, one has the impression of living without horizon".

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The festival L'Appel du Large will take place from July 2 to 4, 2021. For more information, click here.