After the Line 1 tramway running north-south through Nice, passengers are now discovering the artworks along the east-west Line 2 as its stations open.
Heading into central Nice from Nice Côte d’Azur Airport is a question of practicality, and the inauguration this summer of a new stretch of the Line 2 tramway makes reaching Avenue Jean Médecin so simple. Although the final stages of work are still ongoing, four more stations have opened for service along the east-west line that next December will extend to Port Lympia. Having benefited, like Line 1, from an art inclusion programme (with a budget of €303 million), Line 2 is to have a dozen artworks in all, four in the underground stations, five in the street-level ones and two along the route, an initiative that helps enhance the urban environment, democratise culture and upgrade localities. The Côte d’Azur has been an art hub for well over a century – think Renoir through Klein and Arman to Venet and Pagès – and now with this programme its capital embraces the 21st century. So step on board for a trip through art made by French and foreign artists, based here in Nice or elsewhere in the world, illustrating the diversity of contemporary creativity and inciting us to view the city's architectural heritage in a new light.
Station Magnan
Jean-Pierre Raynaud has subverted the humble plant pot, as on the Centre Pompidou esplanade, and installed his two huge golden sculptures on the seafront.
Station Carras
Returning to the Carras district, Sacha Sosno's Poseidon and Homage to Venus give us a god of the sea and a goddess of love for modern times.
Station Paul Montel
Philippe Ramette's In Praise of Travel on the way to the CADAM echoes the tramway lines and suggests the existence of complementary and alternative routes.
Station Ferber
Joana Vasconcelos's ice-cream cone that was exhibited at the Palace of Versailles invites us to rethink contemporary society's seduction strategies.
Station Jean Médecin
In the great tradition of public sculpture, Stéphane Pencréac’h has created an eagle and four winged figures to focus our minds on history and our Republic.
Future Station Lympia
Christened Lou Che after the artist Noël Dolla's little boat, moored in the harbour, this installation is a tribute to the courage of sailors and all humans.
Future Station Garibaldi
For this underground station, Nice-born artist Ernest Pignon-Ernest is creating Pepin, the Goddess and the Sea, a facsimile of the goddess Nike – the winged Victory of Samothrace – carrying the infant Garibaldi on her wings.
Future Station Durandy
The artwork by leading French contemporary artist Tania Mouraud will reference the history of Nice and Durandy by drawing inspiration from the famous opera Cosi Fan Tutte.
Par Tanja Stojanov
Côteweb 2021, création de site Internet sur Nice