Graffiti in the middle of cows and horses, in Nogent-le-Rotrou

By settling in Nogent-le-Rotrou, in Eure-et-Loir, “capital of Perche”, Resk, Phok and Panonerpan thought that they would never reuse their aerosol cans again. These graffiti-artists from the suburbs of Paris and Orleans had mourned their youthful passion by putting their luggage in the countryside, with their wife and children.

Since the creation, in 2020, of their Rur festival (short for “rurbanisation”), they have been doing even more graffiti. One day, they tag a combine harvester for the department’s young farmers’ race. Another, they are in the courtyard of the Château Saint-Jean for a demonstration of graffiti, or organize over a weekend, at the beginning of September, their festival devoted to urban cultures (graff, skate, breakdance…), a few steps from the Birthplace of the poet of the Pléiade, Rémy Belleau (1528-1577).

Jonathan Guyot, known as Panonerpan, is also an associate professor of life and Earth sciences in the high school that bears the name of this local figure; Resk, or Christophe Delebarre, is the coordinator of a local unit for inclusive education for children with disabilities; Phok, Erwan Le Lann, is a territorial agent at the aquatic center of this sub-prefecture.

hip hop culture

Before having a well-ordered life, they all painted in vacant lots, vandalized shopkeepers’ blinds or covered the gray walls of their city with their frescoes: “When I arrived here in 2010, I said to myself: it’s dead, I’m not going to paint anymore, I’m never going to meet someone else who paints with a spray can, remembers Panonerpan. And I didn’t see the point of vandalizing this town. »

Given the success of the festival, the frescoes, which had to be covered after three months, are now visible until mid-May

The art of graffiti is essentially lived in the metropolises, to break the anonymity of the big cities, to exist in the eyes of those who know the codes of hip-hop culture, but in Nogent-le-Rotrou, what interest put color on old noble stones or in the middle of the hedges of cow and horse farms? “And why, in the countryside, would there be no one sensitive to this form of art?, retorts Resk. Since we organized this festival, we only meet people who are fans, take pictures of themselves in front of the frescoes, from police officers to families, including local elected officials. »

The one who had the audacity to think about it was the owner of the place, Nicolas Caudmont, a former soldier, who grew up listening to NTM and Public Enemy in an HLM in Normandy. This street art enthusiast invested in property renovation after leaving the army. By taking over the building nicknamed the “Tour d’Ardenay”, he undertook to build eight housing units there, requiring eight parking spaces. He then bought 6,000 square meters of adjoining industrial wasteland, a former cement mixer factory. A part is devoted to a coworking space; the rest he lends to associations that need to organize events there. During one of them, Panonerpan asks him if he can tackle the wall: “And why not all of them? », replied Nicolas Caudmont. Given the success of the festival, the frescoes, which had to be covered after three months, are now visible until mid-May. This year, more than thirty graffiti and street artists are expected on September 10 and 11.

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