On the evening of 2nd September, the official inauguration of the new premises of the Mackintosh Interpretation Centre took place.
The Centre has been reopened to the public since 5th August, after eight long months of closure.
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It began with a remarkable multi-voice conference by the members of the board of directors “Mackintosh in Port-Vendres: When art meets history“
and was attended by over 40 people.
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The lecture took place in the cultural centre next to the new interpretation centre.
It highlighted certain aspects of the man behind the artist, explained very clearly the techniques of watercolour in generalÂ
and those favoured by Mackintosh during a very detailed pictorial analysis of eight watercolours produced in Port-Vendres.
Then, at the end of the conference on the forecourt of the Vauban cultural centre and cinema adjoining the Charles Rennie Mackintosh Interpretation Centre,
President Michèle Grau gave a speech in which she thanked the Mayor and the municipality for making the place available and for carrying out the work in this new location. She also thanked the volunteer members of the board of directors.
They worked together to develop and implement the renovation project, as well as fitting out and setting up this new space. The centre is also equipped with interactive tools.
The choice was made to exhibit extensively the forty or so watercolours that C R Mackintosh painted during his stay in Roussillon, the only place where the reproductions are grouped together on the exact scale of the originals.
The Mayor, Grégory Marty, paid tribute to the work of the municipal technical team who renovated the premises and to that of the volunteers of the association and its President who have done a great deal of work to make this space a clear, attractive and well-thought-out place which does honour to the commune
It was here that the evening ended, as is the custom, with a cocktail offered by the municipality where about sixty guests were present
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The event was a great success and a beautiful tribute to this world-famous artist who chose Port-Vendres to spend the last and happiest years of his life.