Could you briefly introduce yourself, your business and your background? My name is Fabien Lefebvre, I’ve been a self-proclaimed sculptor since 1973, and I run the “Bazar” on Rue des Juifs. I’m a maker first and foremost: working with my hands is my trademark. Thedesire to make is what’s important to me. And what’s fantastic aboutcraftsmanship is that it can be pure and simple, like plumbing, or on the contrary, you can inject all kinds of things, concepts, add emotion, and you can also get involved. I’ve also always cultivated theart of salvaging: in the countryside, I salvaged a lot of wood, and once I arrived here in Granville, I salvaged a lot of scrap metal from the port. In fact, my work depends a lot on what I salvage or what people give me. These objects that have lived, these wrecks, I try to bring them back to life, and at the same time I benefit from the apathy of these objects.
You were talking about the port. Is this the context in which you created the Nuit des Soudeurs? Yes, there was a huge transit of scrap metal heading for Spain and Portugal, and in these huge heaps craftsmen were going to pilfer bits and pieces to create their works. And that made me want to create an in-situ festival. And the underlying idea was also to defend these trades from the industrial world and the commercial port: I had this concern to defend another city, a city that people tend to forget. But there’s a lot of history in this town: the history of Dior, in particular, and of his family who made their fortune in fertilizer. Granville’s industrial past is part of Granville’s past.
Let’s talk about your gallery. I don’t know if you can call it a gallery. For me, a gallery is something that’s meant to be “super-clean” and showcase the works, with beautiful lighting, and that should make each piece sacred. Here it’s a bit the opposite, which is why I call it the ” Bazaar “. There’s a spirit of accumulation, of all these objects that have been added over time, especially since I arrived here in 1993. At the time, the Rue des Juifs was going through a bit of a downturn, with many stores and boutiques closing. That’s why I settled here. Fortunately, as time went by, other designers moved in and the street took on a new, pleasant color. Today, there’s a real artistic and creative effervescence. And young people are always arriving, renewing the offer. I find myself the oldest shopkeeper on Rue des Juifs!
And beyond your Bazar and the Nuit des Soudeurs, you’re also part of a collective?I like not to be confined to one compartment, to have the opportunity to snoop around in all sectors, and so I created a carnival troupe called “La Vie en Rose “: The idea was, and still is, to take part in an ultra-popular festival by injecting an artistic dimension. Quite often, we have artistic references on our float that may or may not speak to people: that’s what’s interesting, mixing things that have nothing to do with each other, shaking things up a bit to see what’s going on. And what’s also important for me is sharing, with the Nuit des Soudeurs, with “La Vie en Rose”.
One last question: as we’re doing this interview as part of the unusual Pinceaux et Fourchettes tour, is there a restaurant in particular that you like and would like to recommend to our visitors? There’s a place I really like, where you can find something a bit alternative, and that’s the P’tit Fourbi on rue Couraye. I like it because it defends a kind of popular, punk cuisine.
