Month: May 2019

Monaco Life’s Lauren Coles and local resident Kate Powers talk about the Riviera Electric Challenge, which kicked off Monaco’s Formula-E weekend, and how the race encourages people to think bigger about electric transportation.

KIA drivers Kate Powers and Didier Rubiolo were with the mayor of Dolceacqua, Fulvio Gazzola, and Monaco’s Jacques Pastor, minutes before the electric car rally kicked off on Wednesday 8th May.

For the past five years the E-Rally, known as the Riviera Electric Challenge, has brought together companies and communities with common values of carrying out best practices in sustainability. Participants from France, Monaco and Italy took an electric vehicle adventure from Cagnes Sur Mer through Italy and finishing in Monaco.

The event, which aims to educate people on how they can prevent climate change through clean mobility, featured Stars’n’Bars co-owners Kate Powers and Didier Rubiolo. For many years now, their business is focused on sustainability, and participating in the E-Rally is one of several ways the team is helping educate the Monaco community about how to action the Principality’s values of a cleaner earth and ocean.

“It was fabulous driving through Italy, they even opened the old town streets to let us drive through,” said Kate Powers. “It was super scenic, we stopped in various towns where each of the mayors would welcome us.”

She described coffee breaks, lunch at the top of Vintimille and a dinner party in Dolceacqua, a commune in the Province of Imperia, with a traditional three course meal. The dinner was in the presence of the mayor and prominent Italian figures.

“Prince Albert showed up, to a lot of people’s surprise,” she revealed.  

It was Powers’ third time participating in the rally, and she said it won’t be her last. Even though it is a busy time of year for the business, she understands the importance of being involved in this community:

“I get into it when I see the reactions of the others racing, as well as the organisation and the enthusiasm.”

The rally ended at the Grimaldi Forum where we participants were greeted by Salon Ever. Specialists from universities and industries, involved in R&D projects in the area of ecological vehicles and renewable energies, held a conference at the Grimaldi Forum. This event goes to show that sustainability can be fun, and through strong relationships within our community, we can make positive changes towards sustainability.

“I’d like to see more electric vehicles or compressed air cars circulating in Monaco,” said Powers when imagining of the future of Monaco. “As well as imposed carpooling by Monaco or the schools, with bus services for students going up to the schools on the Rocher. And one day a month, a ‘Sunday car-free’ day in Monaco or at least a designated area.”

The latest work by ‘Monaco in films’ will follow the theme Monaco and the sea, exploring the Principality’s growth as a seaside resort and its relationship with water sports and marine research. The event, to be held at the Grimaldi Forum, will show various cinema on the topic.

‘Monaco in films’ was launched more than 20 years ago and is the historical label of the Audiovisual Archives, now known as the Monaco Audiovisual Institute. Through various exhibitions, it shows how Monaco has been represented in various forms of cinema and aims to give, through editing and commentary, a better cross-reading of history.

Since 2014, this label has been available in ‘cine-conferences’ in close collaboration with the Archives of the Palace of Monaco. After Albert Ist in Films, Rainier III in Films, the Invention of Monte-Carlo, and The Archives Tell Their 20 Years’ Story, the theme chosen for this new exploration is Monaco and The Sea.

Wedged between the sea and the mountains, Monaco has had to remodel its shoreline through the years in order to turn its territory, naturally a port of refuge, into a seaside resort, an area of sports competitions, a centre of scientific marine research, and a marina. It is the story of a Principality turned towards the sea that this cine-conference will tell and put in perspective through the strength of its archives.

The cine-conference will be held at 7pm on 7th June.

Monaco is set to have its own ‘Digital twin’ as part of efforts to transition the Principality to the digital age. The program will see every building, street, lamppost and tree in Monaco digitally registered and reproduced, with the aim of improving the quality of life for residents.

A 3D interface is currently under development to compile all of Monaco’s topographical data, with the district of Condamine one of the first to be virtualised.

In the future, all real estate projects or street level modifications will be submitted to the avatar in order to measure their impact and adjust them accordingly.

The program will radically change the way the Principality manages its physical assets. For example, it will be used to redefine energy consumption through sensors installed in buildings.

The purpose behind the project is to preserve and improve the quality of life in the Principality, in line with Monaco’s ‘Smart city’ objectives.

The New National Museum of Monaco is organising an open workshop this Saturday 11th May at Villa Paloma, as part of a presentation of the work of Michel Blazy, titled ‘Shoe Collection’.

The latest exhibition follows works showcased by the artist at Villa Sauber and in the gardens of Villa Paloma titled ‘Sculptcure’ (2001-current), and the work ‘Sans titre’ (2014) – in which bark is entirely covered with gold leaf.

‘Collection de Chaussures’ (2015-2019) was created by Michel Blazy to celebrate the 57th Venice Biennale. It consists of a frame within which a complex device presents and feeds plants that have been planted in sneakers. If the display borrows from commercial logic, the notion of framework induces a completely different relationship to nature and our responsibilities towards it.

The workshop on Saturday will be led by Camille Barlerin, a student in graphic editorial design and who is charged with the maintenance of the ‘Shoe Collection’.

Each person will contribute to a joint edition that will list the plant species present in the sneakers. A botanical and iconographic research work will lead to an editorial composition by each participant, then the whole will be connected to complete the box.

The workshop will be held from 2.30pm to 5.30pm and participation is free but subject to availability. Email: public@nmnm.mc

For more information visit: nmnm.mc