Like the textile designer, the artists and craftsmen of the passage Carnot had only a few days to furnish their new premises, in the passage Carnot. A difficult task, but not insurmountable “for those with imagination”, Tom Combhard believes.

“A workshop is at least like a house, you have to live in it to furnish it properly,” says her neighbor on the other side of the street, ceramicist Marine Ploix. “The place is magnificent, it is a real jewel. We will always find time later for cleaning,” adds Stéphane d’Aboville, the upholsterer. Words confirmed by the artist Cédric Hémon, who is very motivated by this project. “This is my first showcase, a step in my career as an artist. I will show my paintings there. In January we will open the gallery to other artists. It is not a sprint, but a long-distance event. Consistent things take longer. »

Other designers are expected

Thus, everyone was ready on Wednesday to receive the first visitors from 3 p.m. With the exception of Bruno Faure, from the bookbinding workshop, Religare, who sets up shop at the beginning of January and the former seamstress at the Chanel workshops, Eugénia Ortiz, who, after a change of location, will not set up until December 12. At the beginning of next year, café-recycling shop-local grocer-cultural center Aquiu invest in the former fire station, on rue Carnot. Work is still going on in their premises.

More weekend entertainment

The Passage Carnot shops will be open Wednesday to Friday from 15:00 to 19:00, Saturday from 10:00 to 19:00. The public can also be welcomed on Sundays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., when there is a flea market in the halls. During the holiday period, the site will exceptionally be open every Sunday up to and including 18 December.
Passagen already has an Instagram account and should soon have its own website.

Meanwhile, the creators installed on the ground floor are eager to show off their know-how. Second-hand goods, jewelry, floral arrangements, lighting, custom-made textiles will be particularly highlighted in this space.

“It’s great to be several craftsmen in the same place and not alone in the middle of clothing stores,” says Marine Ploix.

In the public eye

Like many of her neighbors, the potter will also work on site. “In this room there is my workshop at the back and at the front, we have our sales area with the 1280 collective (“the temperature to which a furnace heats sandstone”, she explains to us). As there are seven of us, including six active members, we will be able to take turns running the shop”, she appreciates this concept. She hopes to organize a course for the children during the Christmas holidays.

Stéphane d’Aboville is installed in the first room as you enter via rue Carnot. Impossible under these conditions not to reveal his work. If the upholsterer keeps his current workshop for stripping the seats, “a very dusty operation”, he will work 80% in the passage. “It’s gratifying,” he swears. To show is to make the public aware of our profession, which is very large. »

Upstairs, on the rue Carnot side, in the former fire station, Laura Zagoury offers alterations and sewing in her Zag workshop. In the extension, a large room can be rented by the passage’s craftsmen and others for workshops or courses.

In the southern wing, upstairs, the 100m² overlooking the rue Carnot is set aside for temporary exhibitions. The artist Véronique Clanet is “hyper happy to open” and find an audience until December 13. “It’s necessary for me to meet him. If I don’t have feedback, I can’t create. And here I can also mix with other artists. It’s so important,” says this resident of Hautes-Pyrénées.

A new animation for the district

The first visitors did not wait until 3 p.m., the official opening time, to stroll this Wednesday on Passage Carnot. “We’ve already seen people looking at our windows for two days,” notes Cyrille Launay, the lighting designer.
Françoise was eager to discover the place, although this Wednesday she didn’t really have time to push the door to the various artists and artisans. “I’ll be back,” she promises, praising the architecture of the place. “Between the ironwork and the lampposts, it’s very beautiful,” she says. Dominique, who remembers the old fire station, finds this creation “successful”. “Anything that can beautify the rue Carnot is good to take”, she assesses.
A feeling that Sabine does not really share. “I think it’s terrible this rusty side, it’s unfinished,” she confides, adding, “that we have to wait until everything is finished to decide. And it’s always better than leaving a ruin”. Like many others, she expected all the work to be done.
Like many others, she expected all the work to be done. “We are very happy, between the Foirail and the halls, the district will become more lively”, approve Fabienne and Thierry, from Pau from the center. “But, it’s not over, s?” they wonder.
But the passage is already well and truly open. Pedestrians can enter on rue Carnot and leave place Marguerite-Laborde, passing between the André-Labarrère media library and the new Pau courthouse.
“This opening today gives artisans and artists the opportunity to offer their productions a whole month before the end of the year, especially for Christmas shopping,” replies Véronique Lipsos-Sallenave, second deputy mayor.
Dominique is a little disappointed not to find the antique dealers of Foirail. “In seven years they’ll be going somewhere else,” she told herself.
Everyone just hopes that this passage finds its “clients” and not just “passers-by”.