Creatives gather at Mother London to celebrate the city of Nantes

Imagine a dream world in which the heavy task of town planning was given over to the artists and creatives whose visions could ignite the city and bring out its most defining features. Some cities in the world are known for their cultural heritage: Nantes wasn’t one of these until 15 years ago, and since then it’s been a slow burn fuelled by the imagination of a group of risk-takers coralled by French public art impressario Jean Blaise and his curator David Moinard.

Jean and David have delivered 29 permanent installations which form the Estuaire collection, and have curated work in public and private spaces to bring the city alive in a different way every summer with the help of creatives such as Jean Jullien, Thomas Heatherwick, Elsa Tomkowiak, Patrick Buren, Jimmy Durham and more. If you haven’t yet visited the arts trail in Nantes itself, or have and want an insight behind the scenes, then a special event is being put on in the British capital’s very own Mother London on the evening of Wednesday 22 October.

Join David Moinard and a host of other French creatives in an evening of fine wines, local cheeses and talks based around the intriguing city of Nantes, with a Jeff Buckley-inspired set by musical duo Kokomo on their first visit to the UK. Jean Jullien’s prints of Nantes will be on show at Mother London all week. The event is free to enter, but you’ll need to register over here on the site.