1999 is the ninth Printemps de Cahors.  

Since its creation, Le Printemps de Cahors has surprised and seduced by bringing together the general public and the art professionnals around a strong idea, which to this day, remains a unique concept in France : a true festival of contemporary art. 

This desire to open up the field of visual arts, through the presentation of the works of thirty or so international artists to the widest possible audience, was reflected first of all by the fact that all Printemps de Cahors events are completely free of charge, but also by the desire to create a dialogue between the arts, to offer them the extraordinary setting of a medieval town.

In 1998, more than 100,000 visitors visited to the exhibitions and attended the Nuits Blanches events (late night events). Cahors, a place for exchanges and encounters, is now recognised in France and abroad, thanks to the enthusiastic echoes that have accompanied this festival since its creation.

Its success is also due to the combination of private sponsorship and public subsidy that it has built up over the nine years. Le Printemps de Cahors receives 75% of its funds from corporate sponsors while at the same tim developing numerous  coproductions with leading French institutions. The festival also has a strong regional identity, and owes much of its success to the 350 voluntary helpers who get involved every year. 

With Christine Macel, the curator for the 1999 and 2000 exhibitions, the Printemps de Cahors is pursuing new avenues of development. Already, this year, there will be a public art programme featuring 19 projects related to the theme of the festival, EXTRAetORDINAIRE. This programme will be enriched in the year 2000 bu a number of permanent public commissions. 

The desire for perpetual renewal is at the heart of Le Printemps de Cahors. Above all, it is a question of preserving our high standards, cultivating our difference, and surprising people again and again, in the image of the EXTRA&ORDINARY: going beyond the banal by adding "extras to the real".

Marie-Thérèse Perrin

President of the association

Director of the festival