“Canal Marches” * is an association created by unemployed and insecure workers, activists of the social movements, professionals of the audio-visual. Goals: to contribute to the expression, the visibility of the « without » and their fights; to develop their creativity, in particular (but not exclusively) by the appropriation of the video tool.

First steps

“Canal Marches” was created in 1997 at the time of the first « European marches against unemployment, job insecurity and social exclusions », when fifteen marches started to furrow all Europe for Amsterdam, where was held a EU summit.

“Canal Marches” then armed the « walkers  » with small cameras, formed the unemployed to the audio-visual tools, and carried out with them several video magazines and documents. A by-product documentary, « Moving », was going to present this first work at a large audience (TV diffusion on channel 5, Planet, and several cabled chains in Europe).

Words and visibility of the « Without voice »

After this first experiment, “Canal Marches” decided to carry on its road, to act for the expression of the « Without »: without papers, without employment, without housing… and more largely all those which are regarded as « without voice » in the society…

“Canal Marches” produced many video documents which give the word to the social movements and take part their fights. As well as a small book, « Paths of anger » (Edition “L’esprit frappeur”), which delivers blows of anger, poems, photographs…

We also organized an exposure on the Movements of unemployed in Europe and their poetic (in the “Bourse du travail”, Paris, in 2000) and then initiated a decentralized process of creation and expression: the evolutionary video installation « Walk with the thousand voices, Words of without voice « , launched at the time of the European Social Forum of Paris/Saint-Denis at” La Grande Halle la Villette (2003), with prolongations with the cities of Villejuif, Ivry, Bègles, Liévin…

Exchanging and sharing

“Canal Marches” wants to support convergences and exchanges. It thus sought various collaborations, with scenario writers such as Robert Kramer, who filmed the walk of the English unemployed of 1997, or of the artists and the town planners who realized in 2003 « Rest of Fakir », a movie on social exclusion generated by urban furniture.

Sharing knowledge goes also through the regular organization of workshops introducing to the video expression; for example, in Larzac with trade unionists railwaymen, and in the cities of Villejuif, Bègles, Liévin, with associations of unemployed…

Support

The projects carried out by “Canal Marches” have been supported by the regional Council of the Nord/Pas-de-Calais Area; the general Councils of Loire-Atlantique, Vallée de la Marne; the towns of Gennevilliers, Clichy Garenne, Saint-Nazaire, Nantes, Villejuif, Ivry, Liévin; and also CNRS Images Media, Management of the Visual arts, Funds of a company European…