Monique Blin, former director and co-founder of the Festival des Francophonies in Limousin died Monday evening in Paris, following a long illness. The news of his death was confirmed by his daughter, Véronique Saavedra.
Posted at 11:35 a.m.
Monique Blin was the head of the Limoges Francophone Theater Festival for sixteen years (which has often changed its name). Very attached to contemporary writing, the director has accompanied and revealed many French-speaking authors and artists from all over the world during her career. It has also made a great place for Quebec theater authors.
Under his direction, the Limoges Festival was a real springboard for many local authors and directors, at the start of their careers. Such as Robert Lepage, Michel Marc Bouchard, Daniel Danis, Marcelle Dubois, Carole Fréchette, Philippe Ducros and the current director of the Théâtre de la Colline, Wajdi Mouawad. “If I hadn’t had this story with Limoges, I wouldn’t have been able to experience the Festival d’Avignon so happily,” confided to The Press, Wajdi Mouawad, in 2013.
It was in Limoges that Robert Lepage’s first show in France was hosted, his solo Vinci, in 1986. Later, the Francophonies made it possible to discover other Quebec playwrights, among other things with the creation, in 1988, of the House of authors, where dozens of authors from Quebec and Canada have stayed to work on construction works.
“Monique Blin was an ally from the start. A deep lover of Quebec and its artists. Dedicated, curious, pioneer. I am overwhelmed with an immense feeling of gratitude, ”wrote Michel Marc Bouchard on Facebook.
“She had also revamped this festival and had created real artistic alliances with Quebec,” summarized Pierre MacDuff, who was general manager of Deux Mondes, a Montreal company that was often invited to the Festival des Francophonies in Limousin.
“I know, dear Monique, that you were disappointed to find that some of you had put your foot in the stirrup had short memories,” Belgian publisher Émile Lansman posted on Facebook. It was not my case. I’ve always said it loud and clear: I owe you a lot. And I even wrote one day: “I was born in Limoges”. »