“The feeling of living walled in”: a couple living near Jace’s Sète fresco in an impasse

Nathalie et sa famille ne voient de leur salon qu’un mur de planches bleu vif et rouge. Midi Libre – NICOLAS ZARROUK

De la vaste fresque réalisée rue de la Caraussane dans le cadre du K-Live, Nathalie et sa famille ne voient de leur salon que des planches bleues et rouges.

In February, the work created by street artist Jace on a façade in Sète made it into the top 10 in the competition for the most beautiful frescoes in France. However, it has become "a nightmare" for a couple of residents of rue de la Caraussane. Because if the imposing mural representing Gouzou – little characters that the artist sows throughout the world – met with great success among passers-by, Nathalie and her family only see a wall of bright blue and red planks from their living room.

"The unpleasant feeling of not being taken seriously"

"We have nothing against the fresco as a whole. We saw it being built before our eyes, it was quite nice. But when the latter was finished, we realized that from our window we were not entitled to the characters, nor to the meadow, but only to a wall with aggressive colors which gave us the feeling of living walled in at home. nous, explains Nathalie. We respect the work of the artist. Our only request is to be able to repaint a very small part of the fresco to make it less oppressive for us."

A request addressed to K-Live, the Sète festival of urban arts, as part of which Jace spoke in June 2023. But despite several discussions and an attempt at conciliation, no solution has yet been found. Enough to annoy Nathalie, convinced after getting closer to the buildings of France that part of the fresco was created without authorization. According to our information, the State architects have taken up the matter, in conjunction with the City planning department. But the ships of France have not, for the moment, responded to our requests.

On the K-Live side, we indicate that we have completed the mediation process, without however closing the file. "In this matter, no one must be neglected. Neither the plaintiffs, nor the owner of the facade, nor the artist and his creative freedom, indicates festival director Crystel Labrasor. The technical solutions that we proposed could not be achieved without the agreement of the owner. The file is now in the hands of the French buildings, but we continue to follow it."

A response far from convincing the main stakeholders, who are now considering other recourses, in particular with a justice conciliator. &quot ;We were asked to be patient. After almost a year, we have the unpleasant feeling of not being taken seriously…", regrets Nathalie.

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