Creating an event “à la française,” according to Thierry Reboul: the boldness of meaning is more relevant than ever.
Excellence, sharing, innovation, character, these words resonate with us as the very signature of the French art of living. A subtle balance, a constant dialogue, a dynamic interplay between heritage and innovation, where ideas collide in the pursuit of the perfect tone, rich with meaningful values.
During his inspiring talk at the Rencontres Chateauform, led by Rémy Margerie, director of 3Mazarium, Thierry Reboul, a creative force in event design and the artistic director of the Paris 2024 Olympic ceremonies, spoke of this ambition: to create an event that would “bring people together around the values of the Republic, in France and across the world.”
In the symbolic setting of the Institut de France, a place where minds are elevated through debate and transmission, Thierry Reboul reminded us that “France is made of encounters… of exploring new answers to challenges.” This vision is deeply rooted in our culture and our worldview, where diversity of ideas, talents, and perspectives intertwine to invent the future. Boldness and the pursuit of meaning are a way of inhabiting the world our own way. Daring, but always with purpose. Seeking difference, not for the sake of provocation, but to reveal what are uniquely ours traits.
This creative tension is what inspired his bold decision: to imagine the first Olympic opening ceremony outside of a stadium. “There was no plan B, because plan B is the death of plan A.” A phrase that encapsulates a deeply French stance: elegant determination, the refusal of easy options. Boldness not as an attitude, but as a standard. Innovation without gimmick. Freedom within constraints. Highlighting the soul of a nation without embellishment. “Everything is already there, we just have to retell the story of what make France, France” in order to gather around the values that sustain us.
In a time where doubt prevails, Thierry Reboul offered us, through the Olympic ceremonies, a moment where France rediscovered itself, proud and united. “The French doubt themselves, their country, their values. But in that moment, we came together. We remembered who we are, deep down. And if we did it once, we can do it again.”
The French art of living is precisely this: the ability to turn difference into richness, constraint into uniqueness, to believe that debate, when guided by respect and the search for meaning, elevates us. Excellence without arrogance. Boldness without attitude. Creativity without superficiality. These are values we have a duty to defend together, so that this enchanted moment becomes the beginning of something we all, not just in France but across the world, deeply need today.