IVY Paris

1. Obama elected as president in USA
2. Ingrid Bettancourt is liberated
3. Nicolas Sarkozy and Carlo Bruni get married
4. The Paris-Dakar rally raid is cancelled
5. Sarkozy declares the end of advertisements on public television channels
6. The Kerviel affair
7. The 3 hour+ Lunar eclipse
8. Marion Cotillard wins an Oscar for La Mome&La Vie en Rose
9. May 2008 marks 40 years since Mai '68
10. Laurent Cantet's "Entre les murs" wins a Palme d'Or
11. France is elected president of the EU council
12. The Olympic Games' opening ceremony in Beijing
13. Pope XVI visits France
14. Alain Bernard wins battle of record breakers for 100m
15. Luc Montagnier and Françoise Barré-Sinoussi win a Nobel Prize in Medecine
16. Launching of the new Loto
17. TV personality Pascal Sevran dies
18. Total entreprise is condemned for the Erika shipwreck
19. "Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis" hits a box-office record (more than 20 million viewers).
20. Lazare Ponticelli dies at the age of 110 years

Photo by Adrina Rose © 2008 Google

Parisian band, the Cavaliers live at Regine's Club January 7th, promoting their self-titled debut album. (Video features them in a previous concert at the Nouveau Casino.)

Regine's
49, Rue Ponthieu
75008 Paris

1. La Perle
2. L'Alimentation Générale
3. Les Taulières
4. L'International
5. Le César
6. Le Fanfaron
7. Rosa Bonheur
8. Le Magnifique
9. Truskel
10. Aux Noctambules
11. Le Tania Club
12. Black Calavados
13. Experimental Cocktail Club
14. Mama Shelter
15. Curio Parlor
16. Le China
17. Andy Wahloo
18. Aux Folies
19. Bar Du Plaza Athénée
20. Ave Maria

Photo: Critik Paris

Singer, performer, composer and radio artists, Elisabeth Schimana and Seppo Gruendler's great score is based not on notes but rather upon a temporal and functional structure. The score is simultaneously a projected image and illumination...

From the Parisian:

The selection that you can listen to here is a mix of extracts in the course of which Elisabeth Schimina transforms her voice with the help of analogical filters and modulation, controlled by a Theremin, whilst Seppo Gruendler transforms the sounds of his electric guitar with the aid of analogical and digital equipment.

The sounds produced by one are put to use by the other, which allows a true resonant dialogue to take place in real time between the two musicians. In this piece the Theremin is used as a control tool but we also have the opportunity to hear it in the piece as well.

Until December 31st, dial +33 (0)1 47 23 54 01 followed by 9 to listen.

Lauren Ballinger writing for I V Y paris

Tired of finding yourself wearing the drab black and greys of the Parisian wardrobe? For an unusual, yet classy kick of color visit Essentiel.

After a stroll through the Jardin de Luxembourg, hop down to their nearby location and delight yourself with their flashy accessories or perhaps a vivid apple green coat to really stand out among the crowds. One could find something for almost any price and their clothing and leather goods actually last so it's worth splurging even just a little bit.

From bags, to floral silk dresses, pins, bows and the softest of cashmere sweaters with just that extra tiny little detail to add an interesting twist, this Antwerp label will not disappoint.

Essentiel
11-13 rue de Tournon
75006 Paris

Photo: Désirs © Mike Koedinger Editions

Bagatelle, Palais Maillot...Hit it on the right bank for 2009!

The dynamic arts center Point Ephémère is hosting a New Year's Eve party tomorrow night ( Dec 31st ) with 2 dancefloors, 1 chillout, 4 bars, and 2 heated outdoor terraces.

On the turntables you'll find:

Dj O (Label Southside / Chicago)
Dj L.A. (Red House Record)
Dj Phazalicious (Indie Dirty Sound)
Dj Benladance (FMR / Kissabilly)
Dj Dactylo (La Furie)
Dj Shende (Bombay)
+ a lot of guests...

Entry is 15 euros at the door, 12 euros if you buy them online here.

Inspired from Sex and the City's cupcake craze (see Magnolia Bakery) comes Berko Bakery, our very own Parisian version.

This colorfully frosted pastry shop offers a number of original recipes, both savory and sweet.

We recommend their cheesecake made from real Philadelphia cream cheese, available also in bite-size to accompany your café.

Berko Bakery
23 rue Rambuteau
75004 Paris

Photo from the Puff List

Artquest’s newest web project, Artelier, is the antidote to online social networking. You can create a profile – but only in order to advertise your studio to other artists nationally and internationally.

You can message other artists you meet on the site – but all the better to find out if you want to take over their studio and apartment temporarily, giving you free access to their space while they have free access to yours.

Artelier is also a great social and professional networking tool, introducing you to local, national and international artists for collaboration, exhibitions, news…

To request an invitation:

Send an email to artelier@arts.ac.uk with your CV or the website address of your portfolio site.
The Artquest staff will invite you on in the next five days, and you can start to invite on your friends, and their friends, and their friends' friends…

Photo: Brancusi's atelier, reconstructed by Renzo Piano, 1997 © Adagp, Paris 2007

NOW thru FEB 7
Bertrand Lamarche (left) "The Funnel" at La Galerie, Centre d’art contemporain de Noisy-le-Sec

NOW thru FEB 13
Soizic Stokvis at Espace d'art contemporain Camille Lambert

NOW thru FEB 21
Hervé Coqueret at La Vitrine de l'ENSA Paris-Cergy

NOW thru FEB 22
"Notorious" at Le Plateau

NOW thru FEB 28
Gwénaël Morin and le Théatre Permanent present "Lorenzaccio d’après Lorenzaccio de Musset"(featured above) at Les Laboratoires d'Aubervilliers

NOW thru MARCH 1
Alfred Gharapetian "Abondance" at La Galerie municipale de Vitry

NOW thru MARCH 15
Ursula Kraft at Maison des Arts de Malakoff

NOW thru March 22
Robert Frank "Paris / Les Américains", Sophie Ristelhueber, Mario Garcia Torres' Programmation Satellite at Jeu de Paume, site Concorde

NOW thru MARCH 29
Seulgi Lee / Caroline Molusson at Centre d'art contemporain de la Ferme du Buisson

NOW thru APRIL 11
"Perspective (Un plan simple)" featuring:
Matthias Bitzer, Barbara Bloom, Gwenneth Boelens, Etienne Bossut, Caroline Boucher, Isabelle Cornaro, Cécile Desvignes, Michel François, Jérémie Gindre, Alexander Gutke, Gaël Pollin, Adam Putnam
at La maison populaire

NOW thru APRIL 12
Cécile Hartmann "Mirages à demeure" at Centre Photographique d’Ile-de-France (Cpif)

Watch out for this indie rock spot in 2009. An old PMU turned bar, this place will hold concerts every night except for Mondays, introducing local bands like Jericho Revolt, and Rodeo. Full program on their Myspace.

Note: Drinks are cheap as the Marseillais owner wants to avoid Parisian pricing.

Also don't miss out on their after X-Mas concert on December 26 with Les Pussies and David Carroll.

Free entry. Starts at 20:00.

L'International Bar
5 rue Moret
75011 Paris

1. Eclair
2. Religieuse
3. Tropeziènne
4. Tarte au citron meringuée
5. Opéra
6. Fraisier
7. Buche de Noël
8. Cannelé bordelais
9. Charlotte
10. Croissant
11. Pain au chocolat
13. Chausson aux pommes
14. Moelleux au chocolat
15. Crème brulée
16. Crêpe
17. Brioche
18. Crumble
19. Flan
20. Macaron

...before the end of the year.

The Fondation HCB is showing photographs of America by Walker Evans and Henri Cartier-Bresson, brought together in an exhibition that marks the centenary of the birth of Henri Cartier-Bresson and celebrates two great twentieth-century masters of photography who held each other in high regard.

"Photographing America: 1929-1947" ends December 21st, 2008

Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson
2 impasse Lebouis
75014 PARIS

Photo: Girl in Fulton Street, New York, 1929
© Walker Evans / The Metropolitan Museum of Art 

The European Independent Film Festival (ÉCU) discovers, promotes and projects the best independent films from around the world every year at La Bibliothèque Nationale de France in Paris. This year's festival will take place on the 13th, 14th & 15th March, 2009.

Approximately one hundred films will be selected to compete in thirteen categories including features, shorts, documentaries, animation, student films and experimental.

The festival’s ‘official selection’ will represent the pinnacle of contemporary filmmaking talent from around the world and compete for twenty-two awards including the prestigious title of “Europe’s Best Independent Film”. At ÉCU 2008, dozens of distribution agreements were signed, and several films were sold directly after their screening.

Since its inception four years ago, ÉCU has become the premier arena in Europe for independent filmmakers to screen their films to large international audiences, to network with producers, talent scouts, agents and distributors as well as exchange ideas with other indie filmmakers.

The ÉCU festival is regularly referred to as Europe’s version of the Sundance Film Festival.

Independent filmmakers are invited to submit their films on their website.
Deadline is January 15, 2009.