Cie Arts et Couleurs

In 1997, I was finishing at the Conservatoire de Liège. I was competing for my first prize. Our teacher had proposed a designer project to those who were finishing. The task was for a graduating student to direct one or more students from his class in a scene from the repertoire. In the end, I was the only one to do something. I didn't want to work on an author's scene, I wanted to set up a little thing with a little set for little children. Three of my classmates agreed to participate in my adventure. And in May 1997, I invited my teacher and my lecturers to come and see The Sun in the Chimney at the Saint-André school in Outremeuse in Liège. Jean-Michel Frère, my lecturer, then encouraged me to go further. Which meant going to the Young Audience Selection in Huy. And for that, we had to be constituted as an ASBL, which we were not. Above all, we needed a different set than the one we made ourselves in my father's barn... At the time, we had no means. So I asked the mother of a friend who had created an asbl, if I could go through their structure named Arts & Colors. I didn't ask myself any questions and hop, here we are in Huy and selected!

In 2000, we set up a second show written and directed by Jean-Michel Frère. I still didn't tell myself that this name was ridiculous and null. We wore it, we carried it, we assumed it without worrying. It was only at the 4th, or even the 5th show that really, there, I could no longer bear, tolerate this name that I found -and still find- null, ridiculous, socio-cul... It did not correspond to us and even less today. People told us "no, don't change, it's not serious, it's not shocking, we know you like that, under that name..." And I listened. I ruminated, I continued to grumble, to tell myself "it's really null" and then that's all.

Since 1998, we've been carrying this stupid name! People have gotten used to it and accept us with that name. We often wanted to change and find a name with the word "fish" because it's the fish that represents us visually (there are fish in almost all our shows), which could have given "The company of the happy fish", "The fish on wheels", "The fish with glasses" or even "The bearded fish"... Something more fun, more offbeat, more crazy but that's it! We chew it over! So, to compensate, we pay a good graphic designer who makes us beautiful visuals and the name Arts & Colors blends into the whole... It seems less heavy... But it's still us...

Martine Godard