Located in Chardonnay in the vineyards of Burgundy, in the heart of the Romanesque art between Cluny and Tournus, Le Nid is a place of exceptional arts and cultures. Ideally located on the main axes of the Saône valley, this cultural space benefits from a green setting in the rolling landscapes of the Haut-Mâconnais.
An atypical place combining stone, rough wood and black steel, the theatre exudes an authentic soul that enhances any artistic production. Benefiting from remarkable acoustics, the Nid's bleachers offer more than 120 seats overlooking a wooden-floored stage. Its configuration and equipment make it possible to host a wide variety of artistic and cultural proposals: plays, acoustic or amplified concerts, "one-on-one", poetic readings, audiovisual productions, circus performances, comedy shows, conferences...
The association wishes to revive a cultural proposal in this former barn converted into an auditorium, closed for nearly ten years. It was the place of residence and creation of the Compagnie Mère Folle for more than thirty years.
The Nest was born from the sum of individual wills, which, federated around a project,
produce a collective energy to bring culture to life in rural areas and be part of popular education. Straw, horsehair, feathers, twigs, all these different elements that are firmly intertwined, become a unique, solid, protective and welcoming place.
After many attempts, an association has been created and its members are working to ensure that the bleachers of the Nest will soon fill up and that boards and hearts will vibrate again. The aim is to offer a cultural season starting in autumn 2020. The team of volunteers is currently working to develop an original artistic project that will guide its action in a sustainable way and will federate local, regional artists and why not others from further afield, much further away?
The choice to create a new association implies the absence of any financial means and the need to surround oneself with numerous supporters, whether members, individual donors, but also patrons. The first contributions have made it possible:
- to develop an associative project that identifies issues, objectives, methods of volunteer work, target audiences, levers for action, complementarity and partnership with other cultural dissemination structures,
- to generate more than 120 memberships to the project,
- to establish a cultural programme during 2020,
- to create an administrative structure,
- to obtain ad hoc entertainment contractor licenses.
The Champvent association is working to ensure that the Nest contributes to the preservation and revival of a unique heritage on its territory.
It is a vast stone building that is accessed via a semicircular vaulted porch opening onto large wooded grounds and meadows. The oldest part of the building, adjoining the porch, is an old tithe of the monks of Cluny dating from the 12th century. A pinewood was added in 1840 and transformed into a concert hall in 1980. This 180 m² heated room is equipped with professional technical infrastructures both in terms of stage lighting and sound diffusion.
In the Mâconnais region, the "tinailler" traditionally referred to a vast barn where vats, presses and all the equipment necessary for receiving the harvest, pressing and vinification were stored. The word "tinailler" comes from the word "tine", the old name for wine vats.
The project carried by the Nid is largely inspired by its location in the village of Chardonnay, and moreover, in an old tinailler. For the team of volunteers, it's about promoting a certain idea of the art of living, oenology and gastronomy. These founding elements are concretized in a proposal of association of food, wine, shows and exhibitions.
The artistic program is accompanied by tastings of local wines, most of them from organic farming, and culinary preparations by renowned local chefs. Le Nid is thus a unique place that contributes to the fame of the local culture whether it is old stones, noble vintages, refined dishes or artistic explorations.
Like the grape variety, the Nid opens up to the world, from the most local to the most distant, and makes commitments for a more respectful, sustainable and fairer planet.
Le Nid was born from the sum of individual wills, which, federated around a project, produce a collective energy to bring culture to life in rural areas and be part of popular education. Straw, horsehair, feathers, twigs, all these different elements which, firmly intertwined, become a unique, solid, protective and welcoming place.
Le Nid offers its members, and more broadly, to all those who wish to, to live collective and original experiences.
The episode of the Covid-19 outbreak hampered the development of the project and ultimately gave it additional urgency. When deconfinement is fully effective, and when health conditions allow it, it will be essential that citizens get together, get together, share projects again, and become part of a new project for society in which culture, the arts and education will have a new place: first and essential. Through its project, the Nest will be a full and complete player in this process.
The first €10,000 is totally dedicated to the financing of the first season:
- Pay artists and technicians for artistic programming,
- Cover the costs of the communication campaign,
- Arrange and secure public reception areas and artists' accommodation,
- Pay the expenses related to the operation of the site.
The second stage, set at 15,000 €, is intended to make the place and the association into an ecologically committed player:
- Replace traditional stage lighting with energy-efficient equipment,
- Install ecological toilets (dry or powered by rainwater harvesting...),
- Propose conferences and workshops (collaborative workshops) on topics related to the protection of the environment or biodiversity,
- Inform the public of actions that allow the saving of natural resources within the Nest (development, signage...).
The third stage of €20,000 (and more) will enable the launch of workshops and courses in amateur artistic practices: singing, theatre, painting, writing...
The Nest is carried by an associative collective, Association Champvent, with varied skills and diverse horizons. Its members are actors from the world of entertainment (artists, technicians, administrators, mediators, speakers, etc.), popular education, specialized education, tourism, as well as winemakers...
It is composed of a board of directors of about fifteen members elected among the voluntary members at the ordinary general assembly of the association. They are responsible for taking the major decisions concerning the association. The administrators also have the task of supporting volunteer members in their associative commitment, in particular through the animation of working committees.
In order to define its actions and refine its proposals, the association has set up an artistic collective which brings together individuals or legal entities chosen for their artistic or technical skills.
You can support this project:
- by making an online donation by credit card on this page after registering on the Dartagnanssite
- by making a bank transfer after registering on the Dartagnanswebsite
- for French donors only, by sending a cheque, on the back of which you will write your e-mail address, made out to "Association Champvent", sent to the following address
Dartagnans
Campagne Le Nid de Chardonnay
15 rue de Milan
75009 PARIS
French donors:
The donation to the Champvent association gives the right to a tax reduction as it fulfils the general conditions laid down in articles 200 and 238 bis of the General Tax Code.
- Individuals: you can deduct 66% of your donation up to a limit of 20% of your taxable income.
- Craftsmen, tradesmen, companies: All payments for the association can benefit from a corporate tax reduction of 60% of the amount of these payments, capped at €10,000 or 5 ‰ (5 per thousand) of the company's annual turnover excluding tax. If the ceiling is exceeded, the excess can be carried forward over the next 5 years.
Article in the Journal de Saône-et-Loire (subscribers only) : Une association pour relancer le théâtre de Champvent
Let's dream that we're sitting side by side in the bleachers, less than a metre away from each other, hearing the hundred or so spectators laughing, holding their breath and clapping in unison. We need the other, to share with the other, to exchange with him, to confront ourselves sometimes. And art is one of the ways. Around an artistic creation, we feel together, we vibrate together, we think together, in short, we share...
Thank you for helping to make this dream come true!
Contact email address of the association
Facebook page of the Champvent association
Champvent association website
