With the women's shelter

In 2025, for the first time, the Festival d’Avignon opened its doors to women supported by the Maison Mazarine women’s shelter at Avignon Hospital, through a series of writing and theatre workshops followed by a three-day immersive artistic residency at the Festival d’Avignon’s La FabricA. 

This cross-disciplinary project is part of a wider audience journey. It began with a visit to a show in the Festival d’Avignon programme, followed by a conversation with the artistic team. The participants then continued to explore the performing arts by trying their hand at writing and acting, moving from the stalls to the stage. 

These workshops gave them a space for expression and attentive listening. In it, they went through a creative process, from writing to performance, in the same conditions as a professional company. 

In 2026, the project continues with women from the Avignon women’s shelter, now joined by women from the Gard women’s shelter in Nîmes. 

Here is a house of refuge. Women meet here, tell their stories, ask questions, and listen to what is said and to what remains unspoken. Through their stories, they explore the power of words: those we dare to say, those we keep inside, and those we are still searching for. 

There are the stories that have always been told. Narratives that repeat themselves, images that impose themselves, tales passed down until we forget the ones we could write ourselves. 

So let us write. Words to understand, to (re)build ourselves, to break free. 

Let us speak out. Voices, bodies and presences that resonate far beyond and shift the lines. 

And let us tell. Singular or shared stories that invite us to listen differently, to look further, and to imagine other ways of telling. 

May each story no longer be one defined by others, but the one we choose to tell. 

A Festival d’Avignon project 
In partnership with Avignon Hospital and Nîmes University Hospital 
With women from the Avignon women’s shelter and the Gard women’s shelter 
Supported by partner artists Prune Cadier and Julie Minck 
With the support of the Fondation Daniel & Nina Carasso 

Traces of their personal journeys, the texts gathered in this fanzine come from the writing workshops and invite readers into their paths. Staying silent, then standing up, setting off, waiting, writing and speaking, in order to finally move on. Their testimonies can be read, heard and felt throughout the pages, in words, images and podcasts.

To bring this adventure to life, Aliséa, Céleste, Céline et Garance were accompanied by the Festival d’Avignon’s workshop artists, Prune Cadier and Julie Minck. 

Supported by Sophie Cool, Perrine Mazet and Clara Orcière, professionals at the Avignon women’s shelter. 

The Festival d’Avignon would like to thank Denis Rateau and Elise Riegel for technical support, Antoine Wellens for extracts from his texts, and Sylvain Bouillet, who all accompanied the participants during the artistic residency at La FabricA from 13 to 15 October 2025. 

In partnership with Avignon Hospital