Jean-Charles de Castelbajac and Citroën lead a creative revolution
Yesterday, a wind of freedom blew over Atelier IDEM, a historic art print shop in the Montparnasse district. While the workshop welcomed great names like Picasso, Matisse or Lynch over the years, it was Jean-Charles de Castelbajac’s turn to invest the place for a very special double anniversary. May 2018 is first and foremost synonymous with the fiftieth anniversary of the May 68 events, which were born in that same district. But it is also the anniversary of Citroën’s iconic “Méhari”. The occasion was thus too perfect for the French automobile brand and the designer to revive the extraordinary liberatory creativity which was the driving force of May 68 through a collaboration bearing the same codes as the manifestos from fifty years ago. All the more so because Jean-Charles de Castelbajac comes from this generation that has beaten the pavement. Citroën and JCDC responded with a positive message to the May 1968 slogans: “Let’s break old gears, no to bureaucracy” became “Let’s create new gears, yes to creativity”. This kind of creativity is embodied by the exclusive “Méhari” designed by Jean-Charles de Castelbajac. In its image, the convertible (which has always been synonymous with freedom) proudly displays the designer’s emblematic colors. Last night, the Art Car E-Méhari created a total artistic emulsion in which many guests and friends took part, all in a festive atmosphere provided on the turntables by Les Garçons. It is proof that freedom is always born of nonconformism.
