The combination of an artist-run center (La Gare Franche) and an accredited theater (Le Merlan) creates a national stage that’s radiant, flexible and inventive.
In 2019, the Théâtre du Merlan will become the ZEF. The ZEF is a place to live, a meeting place, an open and unique place, hospitable, a space of possibilities in the north of Marseille, spreading its energy and vitality throughout the region and far beyond.

Le Merlan is located at the heart of the urban center of the same name, in reference to its neighborhood in Marseille’s 14th arrondissement. The Au fil de l’autre project, imagined by Francesca Poloniato-Maugein, is built around three key concepts: presence, openness and sharing:

• the requirement for contemporary, eclectic and accessible programming
• long-term, local cultural action projects, designed and co-constructed through a committed relationship with the public
• strong support for creation and production through ten artists – artists who accompany us, grouped together in La Bande, and artists we accompany, grouped together in La Ruche. All chosen for their commitment to society, their openness and their desire to share.

Commitment to the local community, the dissemination of artworks, collaboration and federation with neighboring players, support for artists and the creation of new works are the backbone of the Au fil de l’autre project, making Le Merlan an open house conducive to encounters.

La Gare Franche is an artist-run centre in the heart of Marseille’s 15th arrondissement. Suspended between the Plan d’Aou housing estate and the village of Saint-Antoine, it acts as a link between the two districts. A bastide, a factory, gardens, a piece of countryside in the middle of the city that welcomes artists, schoolchildren, gardeners and neighboring residents, and constitutes a public space that they pass through and inhabit in their daily circulations.

La Gare Franche is characterized by a project
for many years around :

• an artistic factory, a creative and living space for artists
• the friendly welcome of a house manager, cook and hostess who is always present
• the long-term association of an artist with the a(e)ncre, articulating a multi-faceted project of creations and cultural actions
• projects based on “building together” in a spirit of openness and hospitality.