The year 2000, no matter what anyone says, marks the minds of all, and takes on a special dimension in Cahors, as it coincides with the tenth edition of Le Printemps de Cahors. An anniversary that will be worthy of celebration, since this year the festival is one of the events of Mission 2000 in France

Back in 1991, the first Printemps de Cahors was an ambitious wager. Its goal, was, and remains today more than ever : to make art accessible to the largest audience by stimulating curiosity through total gratuity, and by favouring pleasure as a means of access to culture. If the Printemps de Cahors is now considered as an exemplary manifestation of cultural decentralisation, this is due to the high standards of its curators, who have presented major artists of our time, but also to the commitment and loyalty of its many sponsors and partners both public and private. it should be remembered that corporate sponsorship currently accounts for 70% of the festival's funding, a situation that is currently unequalled in that field in France. Thanks to their generosity and their investment in the artists, through the numerous co-productions that take place each year, they have enabled Le Printemps de Cahors to win its bet, to preserve over the years its spirit of initiative and discovery, as well as its exceptional atmosphere for which an ever-increasing public, all generations combined, gathers for two weeks. A public that's coming from further and further away and mixes with the devoted public of Cahors and its region : the three hundred volunteers from the Lot area who work each year prove it by their commitment to this unique event. 

In recent years, Le Printemps has developed its appetite for encounters and innovation, emphasising by the dialogue between the visual arts and the performing art, and commissioning new works as part of the public art programme supported by the Caisse des dépôts et consignations. In addition to these initiatives, this year a special invitation was extended to the great German designer Ingo Maurer as well as the permanent work commissioned from Fabrice Hybert for the city of Cahors, as part of the activities of the Mission 2000. This commission, supported by Mission 2000 in France, is part of the program conceived by Christine Macel, curator for the second consecutive year.  Entitled Sensitive, the exhibition brings together some thirty international artists whose perception of the world is more sensitive than rational. At Cahors, you might say, the heart has its reasons...

Marie-Thérèse Perrin

President of the associtaion

Director dof the festival