The Art de Vivre à la Française is also about making society through culture.
“Theatre’s purpose is to build society. And the best artworks act as nightlights; they must shine for society.” With these words, Thomas Jolly touches on a value deeply embedded in France: culture enlightens, unites, and provokes reflection.
In France, art is not a mere ornament. It is profound, alive, and essential. “Live performances must speak louder, to bring the great ‘we’ to life, the ‘we’ that both unites and divides us.” This too is part of the French art of living: a tension between the universal and the individual, a passion for debate, for complexity, for the ideal of living together.
Thomas Jolly holds a beautiful conviction: “France is beautiful, and it is doing good.” Not out of nostalgia, but because it still carries the ambition to “celebrate our shared humanity,” to “stitch back together what is coming undone,” and to believe that “culture is a priority” meant to “mend, to mend ourselves.”
This is what the French art de vivre is: a demand for meaning, a care for human connection, and a celebration of individuality at the service of the collective.