7 Floors of Freedom

On this week’s #Give10, Roman Lapacz from McCann Paris shares his experience of the 59 rue de Rivoli.

I’m not a religious guy. No god’s ever spoken to me. And if Hell exist, I think bacon is worth it.

But I do believe in a bunch of things, one of them being the unlimited power of art. Like many believers, I have a temple. A sacred place I can go when I’m feeling lost and where I know I’ll find inspiration.

This place is neither private, nor hidden, nor protected. You could even say it’s one of Paris’s most touristic spots, as it stands in the middle of Rue de Rivoli. We call it the 59 and the best way to describe it is an art squat, where every last bit of wall is covered in graffiti.

It has 7 floors that the city selects artists to occupy for 3 months each. During this period they are given a room where they can live and use their talent to turn the walls into a standing expression of their own, personal art. As a visitor, you can go many times a year and discover a brand new museum on every visit.

Last weekend I went to celebrate its reopening. I enjoyed discovering the vibrant colors and strange shapes spread throughout the building like never before. It made me want to capture them using my personal favorite medium: instant film.

These 7 pictures, one from each floor, are my way of sharing the work of people who use the power of art to show everyone how we can create a more diverse and accepting world simply by being authentic and trusting one another.

Like them, I believe we should color walls instead of building them. I hope, dear reader, that you too will be inspired to own your feelings and share them with the world.

https://instaxatmccann.tumblr.com/post/622007598009516032/roman-lapaczs-give10-7-floors-of-freedom