Day: 15 January 2018

FEDEM, Monaco’s federation of employers, has published the winter edition of Monaco Business News, in French, in which the organisation’s president, Philippe Ortelli, summarises the challenges and opportunities of the New Year.

Mr Ortelli focuses on the acceleration of change due to the digital revolution and new technologies and the impact they have on the way CEOs manage their time and the organisation of their companies.

The Principality is in an enviable position, Mr Ortilli argues: “We are fortunate to be able to rely on an economic and social model like no other, except perhaps interesting analogies with Singapore.

“Our country allows us to be able to envisage this acceleration of the world around us as an opportunity to seize, provided that business leaders, politicians, executive authorities, take the measure of this global transformation and adapt the framework of our development to this new situation.”

Referring to the elections to the National Council due in February, FEDEM’s president points out that the new elected majority will have to make its own contributions so that its institutional partner, the Government, accelerates even more in the economic and social field in order to anticipate the adjustments that Monaco will need to make to perpetuate its model.

Mr Ortelli picks out the question of access – by road, rail, sea and air – to be one of the central preoccupations of the coming year.

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News

Philippe Pasqua’s exhibition Borderline, at the Oceanographic Museum, closed on January 7 having welcomed 455,000 visitors over the previous eight months.

It was the first time that Grasse-born Philippe Pasqua, who taught himself to paint, lent his art to create awareness about the oceans. Robert Calcagno, Director of the Museum, said the artist had “enriched our mission of mediation and shed light, more sensitively, on the tragedies that are being played out beneath the surface: pollution, the over-exploitation of resources”.

The twelve monumental pieces included a giant tortoise entangled in fishing nets, a nine-metre shark sacrificed to human activity, hundreds of jellyfish piled up in a dumpster … By their only visual force, these achievements have spoken to the heart of thousands of visitors, amateur enthusiasts or seasoned professionals, presenting a world dominated by limitless behaviour.

“Philippe Pasqua has managed to perpetuate this link so dear to the Oceanographic Museum of Monaco, the one that unites art and science. His works have initiated an unprecedented dialogue with our historical collections,” said Patrick Piguet, Director of Heritage.

The exhibition not only attracted 72 nationalities identified among the visitors but also had the honour to be visited by many personalities, like American Olympic champion Justin Gatlin, actor Patrick Timsit, French international footballer Johan Micoud and World Champion F1 driver Alain Prost.

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The Espace Léo Ferré will host for the second time the retro-modern duo Brigitte, formed by singers Sylvie Hoarau and Aurélie Saada.

With a double platinum record and a musical success for their album “Et vous, tu m’aimes?” (And you, do you love me?) released in 2011, Brigitte is a blazing success, largely confirmed by their second album, “A bouche que veux-tu» (A mouth that you want), which has propelled the talented duo to the rank of major artists on the French scene.

On each of their tours, in France and around the world, Brigitte has been captivating sold-out audiences.

In their third album “Nues” (Naked),” haunted by Véronique Sanson and Michel Berger, Aurélie told Le Figaro: “It has something not sexy, this album is pain rather than glamour and languor.”

Monaco will be able to hear for themselves on March 30, at 8:30 pm at Espace Léo Ferré. General admission: €30, seats: €36. Information: +377 93 10 12 10.

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Canada 150: A Monaco Life Original Series, Maude Sabourin

“Artists and intellectuals in the Mediterranean their places, their roles, their challenges” will be the focus of the Ninth International Meeting of Monaco and the Mediterranean that will be held on March 15 and 16, at the Oceanographic Museum under the High Patronage of HSH the Sovereign Prince (this follows Prince Albert’s 60th birthday on March 14).

The challenge posed by this international symposium, open to the public, is twofold: to recall the richness of the cultural history of the Mediterranean and to highlight the capacity of creative minds to find new expressions of the Mediterranean spirit.

Long considered by Paul Valéry, as “a factory of civilisations”, today the Mediterranean ecosystem is threatened, amidst societies that have been torn apart.

Between these two antagonistic visions of the Mediterranean: the one magnified yesterday and the one tarnished today, it is essential to return to examine its heritage, its values, and its vital forces, the organisers say.

Intellectuals and creative minds will be brought together for three roundtables “The Mediterranean: inspirations and circulations”,”Mediterranean Literature: Cross Dialogues” and “Art on the move,”

Finally, the closing night will be devoted to the showing of a film in the presence of its director.

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News

The celebrations of Monaco’s patron saint, Sainte Devote, will take place on Friday, January 26, and Saturday, January 27.

As one of the oldest traditions of the Principality, the marking of the saint’s day has permeated Monaco’s national culture in fields as diverse as religion, folklore, popular beliefs, history, literature, arts, painting, music, numismatics and philately.

The legend of Saint Devote stems from a medieval document, and is a tradition holding a very special place in the heart of Monegasques and permanently attested to over the centuries in the history of the city.

According to the legend, Devota (Devote), a young Christian native of Corsica, was martyred by the prefect Barbarus under the Emperors Diocletian and Maximian on a date that could be 303 or 304. Her body, stolen the following night by the faithful, was put in a boat, brought to Monaco and buried in a chapel of the valley called “Gaumates”, near the port, on January 27 of the same year.

Under Honoré II, in the seventeenth century, Sainte Devote became patron saint of Monaco. The tradition has been celebrated every year since 1874: as the most significant part of the reeanactment, a small boat is burned in the presence of the Sovereign and the Princely Family, accompanied by Monegasque personalities. Once the boat is burned, a fireworks display is held at Port Hercule.

On January 27, the feast day, a solemn Mass is celebrated in the Cathedral by the Archbishop of the Diocese. The Princely Family, the Prince’s Government, the elected assemblies and the constituted bodies as well as many faithful attend this ceremony. A procession takes the direction of the Prince’s Palace with the shrine containing the relics escorted by the Carabiniers du Prince.

The procession stops on the Place du Palais, where an Honour Guard and the orchestra of the Carabiniers du Prince pay tribute. A celebrant then blesses the Princely Family with the relics. The procession proceeds to the ramparts, where another celebrant blesses Monaco and its population. Finally, back in front of the Cathedral, a last celebrant blesses the sea and fishermen.

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