Little by little, without jolts or excess, Le Printemps de Cahors has become, after only three years of existence, one of the liveliest festivals in Europe. It is also one of the most eagerly awaited, as it plays a unique role as an observatory of contemporary creation in photography and the visual arts: a place where new artists emerge and confront each other, where we can see the evolution of works that are already established, or where older and recent works meet. For our objective is not the new at all costs. It can be just as interesting, for example, to give a different reading of works already known to specialists, to make comparisons or oppositions, to give, in plain language, a real context to contemporary creation. 

Le Printemps de Cahors has the extraordinary good fortune to be able to develop in an almost unconstrained way (within the limits of a modest budget, of course). Thanks to the enthusiasm of its President, Marie-Thérèse Perrin, thanks to the loyalty of those who support it, namely the national and regional institutions, its various sponsors and partners, and the City of Cahors, it is safe from the agitation or sclerosis which seriously affect certain other events. It can therefore devote itself to its sole mission: to present a programme of great quality, and make it accessible to all those who wish to take an interest in it. 

What's new for the 1994 edition ? First of all, the exhibition areas, which are enriched by the second floor of the Espace Caviole, which the Municipality has kindly agreed to have renovated to make it available to the Printemps from this June, but which is of course to be used for the City's entire artistic policy. In addition, we are keeping the emblematic places to which everyone here is attached: the Saint-James Mill, the Chantrerie, the Grenier du Chapitre, the Museum, the Cellier des Élus, and finally the Tribunal, which was used on an experimental basis last year and which proved to be an original space, well suited to a certain type of presentation. 

Régis Durand

Chantal Grande