Faenza wishes you a very Happy New Year 2028!

 

Fragility…

Every year, just when it’s time to optimistically express to you my wishes of happiness, health and prosperity, I feel ambivalent.

In reality, although I try to force myself, although I try to have a better attitude, I am not an optimist.

So to seem convinced that the new year, by the simple fact that it has a new number, has some chance of being much better than the preceding one, that no one among my friends or family will die or fall ill; that war, violence, hate and stupidity will halt for a year; that destruction of the environment will slow down, even stop; that ecology, culture and education will finally be at the center of our development politics; that each person will have the possibility to throw himself into an occupation which he will be able to do at his best for love of work well done; that our professional partners will at last be trustworthy and honest; that someone can be recognized for his talent even if he has a physical liability; that a young woman will be able to walk at ease in the Metro without fearing aggression; that my children, friends and colleagues will not have to worry about being disfigured by blows from a baseball bat on Christmas Day for a little money and a thermos bottle… is a little beyond my strength.

To wish it, yes, of course; to imagine it, maybe; but to believe it? As my daughter says, “I can always pretend” - as we all do – but this year I am having trouble doing that, I admit.

It’s why I proposed to myself to wish you an excellent year… 2028. Because first, if we all last until then, it will already be good news; next because ten years is hardly enough time to mount a serious project: to learn how to play an instrument, to study medicine, to give a child a good foundation, polish up a literary work, straighten out a society or an institution in danger, design a veritable cultural project, make an agricultural exploitation project feasible, restore a castle, put a garden in order…

Meantime, I suggest that you meditate a moment on the lovely notion of fragility. Our organisms are fragile, life on Earth is fragile, a couple is fragile, a baby is fragile, crystal is fragile, all balance is fragile, our artistic projects are fragile and they in turn repose on fragile artists, on fragile voices and fragile instruments…

Fragile and precious.

What is fragile is also very often, paradoxically, precious. Let us then accept that what constitutes the “weak link” of our enterprises and our lives also constitutes our strong point. The fragility of a project or of a being is often only the consequence of its preciousness. The word “preciousness” also has a double edge: the height of ridicule for some, the highest in the scale of values for others. As soon as objects, systems and ideas are complex, they lend themselves to keys of interpretation sometimes completely contrary. It is up to us to be attentive.

For my part, I make a good resolution for 2018 to utilize my pessimism to optimize and coordinate my projects and life this year. Prudence and slowness, as well as audacity and determination, will be useful for me to bring my objectives for Faenza to fruition: the release of our CD, Le Délire des lyres, the rediscovery of Charles Dassoucy’s musical works, the search for a new residency for the ensemble, the organization of the first tour in a barge on the waterways of the Grand Est (Le Salon itinérant), the preparation of our big show for acrobats in the framework of the Théâtre de la Foire, etc. Finding patrons, convincing institutions and financial partners, staying on course despite the constant reduction of governmental budgets and cultural facilities, all in keeping intact our potential for amazement, for optimism, for naivete, the supreme fragility that we must protect with particular care from now until 2028, if we want to still be there to wish you a good year.

After a sermon, the basket is passed: “I appeal to your good hearts, Ladies and Gentlemen!” Patronage does not only involve businesses, you too can profit from a tax advantage by supporting us with your donations, deductible by 66% for those private individuals whose fiscal residences are in France. We would all be at fault to deprive ourselves of it…

Okay, we’ve had our fun: a very beautiful year 2018 to all of you!
 

  

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Translations by Sally Gordon Mark

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