ZAT (temporary art zone)
Reinventing public space through art. This is what the City of Montpellier does every year by organizing the ZAT (temporary artistic zone), an artistic and cultural event combining live arts, visual arts and participatory projects.
The aim: to collectively reflect on the challenges of public space and imagine its transformation through artistic creation and cultural urbanism.
The ZAT artistic program is inspired by places, their history, their use, their landscape, to reveal or shift them. And each year, a new neighborhood is invested. Launched in 2010, the ZAT has invited itself into several Montpellier neighborhoods: Antigone, Port-Marianne, Celleneuve, Mosson, Arceaux, Montcalm, Ecusson...
The singularity of this event lies in the possibility for all citizens to get involved in creative adventures alongside choreographers (like Olivier Dubois in 2022 at Antigone), visual artists (like Al Sticking in 2012 at Celleneuve), or multidisciplinary teams (like the Rara Woulib company at Malbosc in 2014).
In 2023, the ZAT took place during the introduction of free public transport, when 70 artists took over the streetcars and buses of the Montpellier Metropole.