Carreau du Temple

“Carreau du Temple” was one of the covered market places in Paris, constructed in 1863, typical for those days in brick, steel and glass, then replacing a wooden structure. I wrote about the place in a post some five years ago and then took these pictures.

The market which specialised in clothes and textiles was originally three times bigger. It lost in importance and after some abandoned plans to have it replaced by a parking space, it was a few years ago decided to transform the place to a centre for basically cultural and sport activities. The transformation is now more or less completed, a first part opened to public in February, used for exhibitions, fashion shows and similar events. The other part, including an auditorium will open late April.

Last weekend I visited the art exhibition “Drawing Now”. A large number of international galleries and artists exposed. A lot to see…

My attention was especially drawn to “Ben”, easily recognised for a famous wall painting in Paris, rue de Belleville (see previous post) and by the Belgian cartoonist, Philippe Geluck.

Part of the exhibition was to be found on a lower level, newly created...  

… and a further part in another space, “Espace Commines”, previously an 19^th century industrial locale.

I ran into Mme Anne Hidalgo, who the following day (yesterday) was elected the new mayor of Paris.

I will revert to more views from the area around the “Temple”, full of history (see previous posts), now becoming more and more attractive.