Exploring Happiness in Dictatorship?

📖🎶 Musical Reading Hosted by Droit Pluriel🧠 Part of the Parisian Mental Health Month
📅 Tuesday, April 29th
🕡 6:30 PM - 8:00 PM
📍 Le Solaris (25 Rue Boyer, 75020 Paris - Metro: Gambetta/ Line 3 Ménilmontant / Line 2) – featuring a rooftop terrace

In honor of Mental Health Month, Droit Pluriel invites attendees to a notable location in the 20th arrondissement to help destigmatize mental health issues. Virginie Barreteau will read excerpts from her upcoming novel La Visite (Actes Sud, 2025), accompanied by Ben Orchestra. Mathieu Simonet will engage with the artists before opening a dialogue with the audience. The evening will conclude with Droit Pluriel’s annual cocktail gathering.

✅ Free Admission.

🔹 A Novel Born from a Vertigo

In 2019, Francis reached out to Droit Pluriel, spending his nights outside the Saint Denis police station with a sleeping bag, despite having a home and a job; his preference was to sleep in a cell. For a long time, he pretended to be homeless to be taken by the police to Nanterre, where an old prison had become a shelter for the homeless; to him, it felt “magical.” Virginie Barreteau, intrigued by his unique story, offered to visit the renowned Nanterre House, now a Reception and Hospital Care Center. As she delved into the history of this vast fortress, powered by Francis's stories, she gradually discovered her own relationship with confinement. La Visite closely conveys his voice, his subversive and poetic thoughts, as well as the narrative of this significant place of marginality.

✨ An Evening to Stand Against Fear and Remember that Resistance Keeps Us Alive.

🔸 With the Support of: Le Solaris, City of Paris, Droit Pluriel.

For more information, visit https://droitpluriel.fr/soiree-la-visite/