Festival du Vivant: two days to rethink our connection to the living world
Co-organised by Rogers and the Odysseo Foundation through the Varuna programme, implemented by Expertise France with the support of the AFD, the Festival of Life invites us to see the living world through a new lens. Over two days, on May 23 and 24, the public was invited to explore the interconnections between art, biodiversity, science, and society through a programme of talks, workshops, film screenings, readings, music, exhibitions, and interactive activities. The aim: to raise awareness, share knowledge, and spark ideas and solutions.
The event is held at the House of Digital Art in Port Louis, a space designed as a crossroads between artistic creation, social reflection, and technology. It was there, last night, that the festival opened with a collaborative, educational workshop in honour of International Biodiversity Day.
Informal and participatory by nature, the festival began with the "Biodiversity Fresco", led by volunteers recently trained in this method. For an hour and a half, participants mapped out together the mechanisms behind the collapse of biodiversity, and then shared their feelings and ideas.
Because talking about biodiversity shouldn’t be reserved for experts. According to Astrid Dalais, co-founder of the House of Digital Art, this festival is meant to welcome "those in the know, but also fishers, farmers, people from everyday life." For her, rethinking our relationship with the living world also means breaking out of denial and seeing the world as it is: fragile, yet still abundant. “We need to dream, to contemplate, but also to act,” she says. And above all, to remember that the living world is not limited to humankind.
Last night, some spoke of a feeling of “dizziness” when faced with the complexity of these issues. Others shared a sense of urgency—but also the sense that we can act. “What I take away is not a feeling of helplessness,” said Yovan Jankee, Communication & Sustainability Manager at Panagora, “but a sense of empowerment. By making the right choices at our own level, we can really make a difference.”
The Festival of Life does not claim to solve ecological crises. What it does is create a space to talk about them differently—collectively, creatively, and with humanity.