Holding Pattern

Grey in the Jardin des Plantes - where there
are multiple exhibitions.

Not Much New Stuff - Yet

Paris:- Saturday, 15. January 2000:- I don't know if it is a result of the Christmas storms or if there are other factors involved, but some events are being rescheduled. If I kept a digital agenda - and I should - some items would get taken out of it and put into non-scheduled limbo.

At any rate, just about everything except for national museums in Paris, is in here. Right after New Years, there is another sort of limbo between the time the fall's big shows get dismantled and the spring's big shows get set up. Things start to pick up in February.

Expired Dates - as much as possible I've gone back to previous versions of 'Scene' to verify 'until dates.' Many theatre presentations have none - hoping for long runs - and other popular exhibitions get prolongations occasionally. If in doubt, please call the 'Info. Tel' numbers to make sure the event is still playing.

Navigation Note:-For some issues of Metropole, there will be two 'Scene' pages. This regular one will be for current events in Paris, and the occasional other one will be for special 'Paris 2000' events; which will include '2000 In France' items.

If you pop back and forth within a week's two 'Scene' pages, your browser's 'back' or 'return' button may not return you to the issue's 'contents' page. Use 'This Issue' in Metropole's navigation line at the top and bottom of these pages.

• New This Week
• Coming Events, Exhibitions, Salons
• Major Events, Exhibitions, Salons
• Other Events, Exhibitions, Salons
• Art Works
• Photo Works
• Dance, Music, Opera, Theatre
• Culture, History, Science
• Cinéma and Multimedia
• Sports, Bikes, Rollers
• Unclassifieds

The items below are not necessarily 'new;' but they are new to this column.

Etienne-Jules Marey - France is like Russia; everything was invented here first. But the French go one better by turning up French inventors who were 'before' French inventors. The Lumière brothers did not invent moving films; this guy Etienne-Jules Marey did. He used it to film bugs in motion and was horrified by the idea of it being entertaining. Marey died in 1904, thus leaving the coast clear for the Lumière brothers and Disney. See this exhibition, until Sunday, 19. March, at the Espace Electra, 6. Rue Récamier, Paris 7. Open daily except Monday, from 12:00 to 19:00. Métro: Sèvres-Babylone. Info. Tel.: 01 53 63 23 45.

Les 12e Nuits Jazz and Boogie Piano - only lasts two nights, but with seven or eight featured artists each night. Performers are from the USA, Britain, Germany and France; and feature the young talent of Jean-Sébastien Remise who has been playing for seven years, since he was five. At the Carrousel du Louvre, in the Salle Soufflot. Entry via 99. Rue de Rivoli. Métro: Palais Royal. Dates: Friday and Saturday, 28 and 29. January. Tickets at fnac and Carrefour. Showtime: 20:30. Entry: 300 francs.

Marcel Proust - and his 3000-page 'A la Recherche du Temps Perdu' is supposed to be as exhaustive as Eugène Atget's collection of photos. They might not have been exactly in the same circles, but they were at the same time. This exhibition, with material from the Musée d'Orsay, is at the Grande Bibliothèque, in the Grande Galerie - Hall Est - which is still at the Quai François-Mauriac, Paris 14. Métro: end of the line 14. Info. Tel.: 01 53 97 59 59.

Cornélia Marjolin Scheffer - died just over 100 years ago, but was the daughter of Ary Scheffer and a painter herself as well as being married to a surgeon. Anyhow, she turned her house into a 'salon' and it became the Musée de la Vie Romantique. This special exhibition is in addition to the permanent collection, and continues until Thursday, 27. July. At 16. Rue Chaptal, Paris 9. Info. Tel.: 01 48 74 95 38.

Ramadan - is not a 'new' event and it is over for this year, but its after-effects are with us, again at the Divan du Monde. There will be a 1920's 'Cabaret Oriental' from Saturday, 15. January for a whole week. Divan du Monde, 75. Rue des Martyrs, Paris 18. Métro: Pigalle. Info. Tel.: 01 44 92 77 66.

This item closes the opening 'new' events for this week. You will find some other new items below. Again, lack of time has not permitted me to form a text to go with each of the images - but they do represent current events in Paris.

Rétromobile 2000 - For old car and old boat fanciers, this show offers the best there is in Europe. Need a rare part? It will be here too, plus everything else to do with old speed machines. The dates for the coming edition of Rétromobile 2000 are from Friday, 11. February to Sunday, 20. February 2000. At Paris-Expo.

Venise de Zoran Music - is an exhibition of paintings by Zoran Music, at Paris' museum for the 18th century, which begins on Tuesday, 18 January at the Musée Cognacq-Jay, 8. Rue Elzéir, Paris 3. Opening hours are 10;00 to 17:40 daily except Mondays and holidays, until Sunday, 16. April. Info. Tel.: 01 40 27 07 21.

Il Signor di Balzac - is an Italian view of superstar Balzac, which was planned but has been put off until fall on account of storm damage to the Maison de Balzac, 47. Rue Raynouard, Paris 16. Info. Tel.: 01 55 74 41 80.

Paris' Museums Online - is not the official name for the new Web site that is being launched, to present Paris' own 15 museums. To begin, the city's museums will be grouped on one Web site, but are expected to eventually develop their own sites. The city has hired 20 young people to put this together, and in the future the site should be very elaborate, with a mine of information available.

Brésil Baroque - Between Earth and Sky - 500 years ago next 22. April, Alvarès Cabrai found an unknown land, which is known as Brazil today. Apparently unlike Peru or Mexico, Brazil was a blank slate, to be filled in by Indians, Africans and Europeans. The resulting art is little known in Europe and this exhibition will change our 'blank slate' view of it. Until Sunday, 6. February.

Next spring, 30 centuries of Mexican art will take over, also in the Petit Palais, Avenue du Winston Churchill, Paris 8. Métro: Champs-Elysées Clemenceau. Except Monday, open from 10:00 to 17:40; to 20:00 on Thursdays. Info. Tel.: 01 42 65 12 73.

Portrait of Mexico - as part of the '2000 in Paris' salute to the new world of the Americas, a film history of Mexico is a current attraction at the Forum des Images-Vidéothèque. This is in the Forum des Halles, by the Porte Saint-Eustache entry, Paris 1. Info. Tel.: 01 44 76 62 00.

Here Come Les Fauves - for 30 years nobody has paid much attention to these wild men of color, who crashed in the public's consciousness in 1905 with their flaming palettes. No 'isms' here; just full-tilt color. Big names by the metre, lots of color; a perfect winter show. From 10:00 to 17:30 daily except Mondays; until 27. February 2000, at the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, 11. Avenue du Président Wilson, Paris 16. Métro: Iéna or Alma-Marceau Info. Tel.: 01 53 67 40 00.

La Mort n'en Saura Rien - is an exhibition of 74 pieces or sets depicting how man faces death, from two widely separated civilizations; Europe and the islands of the oceans. This exhibition continues until 24. January 2000. At the Musée National des Arts d'Afrique et d'Océanie, 293. Avenue Daumesnil, Paris 12. Métro: Porte Dorée and bus 46. Open daily except Tuesdays, from 10:00 to 17:30. Info. Tel.: 01 43 46 51 61.

Jean Béraud et le Paris de la Belle Epoque - While the impressionists were all the rage a century ago, Jean Béaud recorded in paint the streets and byways of the City of Light, capturing the charm and the spirit of it. This exhibition presents 60 representative works and it continues until Tuesday, 2. February, at the Musée Carnavalet, 23. Rue de Sévigné, Paris 3. Métro: Saint-Paul or Chemin Vert. Info. Tel.: 01 42 72 21 13.

De Bébé Cadum à Mamie Nova - this poster show features animals, people, and other objects used to personify products for their promotion. The posters in question are old ones, some featuring products past their heyday, some featuring ones that are still around. There are three interests satisfied here: graphics, French products and how they were promoted Until Friday, 31. March. At the Bibliothèque Forney, 1. Rue de Figuier, Paris 4. Métro: Pont Marie. Info. Tel.: 01 42 78 14 60.

François Morellet - moved into the Musée Zadkine for a stay until Sunday, 5. March. See comment in a recent 'Café' column. Except Mondays, open daily from 10:00 to 17:30. Until Sunday, 5. March. At 100 bis, Rue d'Assas; Paris 6. Go to the back of the garden and turn right. Métro: Note-Dame-des-Champs. Info. Tel.: 01 43 26 91 90.

Le Temple de l'Homme - is some 60 works by Paul Landowski which have been gathered from four continents for this major retrospective exhibition. Landowski did the 'Christ Rédempteur' that overlooks Rio which will give you an idea of which league this one is in. Now on and continues until Sunday, 5. March. Open from Tuesday to Sunday; from 10:00 to 17:40, at the Petit Palais, Avenue Winston Churchill, Paris 8. Métro: Clemenceau. Info. Tel.: 01 42 65 12 73.

(de main de maître) - or, 'Les Métiers d'Art En l'An 2000' is a showcase for French 'creation,' supposedly with the best there is when it comes to hand-crafted works, such as glassware and fancy clothing; although there is much more than just this. Open daily, from 10:00 to 19:00, until Sunday, 6. February. At the Palais des Congrès, Paris 17. Métro: Porte Maillot. Entry fee: 40 francs.

Musée du Jouet - is not in Paris, but in Poissy and I have actually been in it. Its building is also worth a look for some its 14th century parts. Old time toys often look too fragile to have been used and abused by kids; their main attraction is that they were made by hand. There are temporary exhibitions as well as a large permanent collection. Open from Tuesday to Sunday, from 9:30 to 12:00 and from 14:00 to 17:30. Closed Mondays and holidays. Musée du Jouet, 1. Enclos de l'Abbaye, in Poissy. Reach by train from Saint-Lazare or by RER line 'A;' or autoroutes A13 - free - or A14 - tollroad. Info. Tel.: 01 39 65 06 06.

Robert Desnos - was a popular pioneer surrealist. All surrealism was pioneering, but not all of it was 'popular.' Desnos is having homage paid to him apparently at the bookshop of the Paris' Bibliothéque Historique, which is a few doors away from the Bibliothéque Historique itself, in the Rue Pavée. Exhibition at 22. Rue Malher, Paris 4. Métro: Saint-Paul. Info. Tel.: 01 44 59 29 60.

Paris Invented - nearly everything usual today in Paris. The Pont-Neuf was invented in 1606 for example. The first covered and heated swimming pool was opened on 8. July 1884, and somebody hadto dream up the first cinema, which was done in 1907. Reported to be a very good exhibition. See the history of all this until the end of March, at the Pavillon de l'Arsenal, 21. Boulevard Morland, Paris 4. Métro: Sully-Morland. Info. Tel.: 01 42 76 33 97.