- Title: Tributes made after November attacks in Paris are collected by the city's archives
- Date: 11th November 2016
- Summary: PARIS, FRANCE (OCTOBER 13, 2016) (REUTERS) ARCHIVES OF PARIS BUILDING ARCHIVIST SORTING THROUGH MESSAGES OF SYMPATHY AND SUPPORT LEFT OUTSIDE AT SITES OF NOVEMBER 13 ATTACKS MESSAGE WITH A PEACE SIGN, WITH CAPTION THAT READS (French): "The law of love shows itself to be more effective than the law of destruction ever was." SIGN READING (in Vietnamese and French): "Paris, in the name of liberty, your blood was poured. In the name of love, I cry with you. Liberty, we believe in your name" / SIGN READING (in French): "You fell with a drink in your hand, we are standing with rage in our fists." ARCHIVIST SORTING THROUGH ARCHIVES PLASTIC-COVERED SIGN THAT READS (French): "Never again!!!" LAMINATED PHOTOGRAPH OF A DRAWING ON A WALL, WITH IMAGE OF MARIANNE THE SYMBOL OF FRANCE AND SLOGAN THAT READS (French): "I am Paris" (SOUNDBITE) (French) ARCHIVIST, MATHILDE PINTAULT, SAYING: "It is important because I think the scale of the phenomenon, the number of messages that were left, really shows that it was an important event, and here I'm not speaking about the attacks, I'm speaking about the surge of solidarity that followed. This is an important event for the city of Paris, and the best source, the best testimonies of this solidarity are these documents." LABEL THAT READS (French) "Tribute to victims of attacks of November 13, 2015 collected at the site of the restaurant Le Petit Cambodge, between 14 December 2015 and 19 January 2016" SIGN WITH EIFFEL TOWER, PANNING TO SIGN THAT READS (French) "Peace, youth, liberty. Long live Paris." (SOUNDBITE) (French) ARCHIVIST, MATHILDE PINTAULT, SAYING: "Here in this box, we have documents that were collected in front of the Bataclan." PINTAULT'S HANDS (SOUNDBITE) (French) ARCHIVIST, MATHILDE PINTAULT, READING MESSAGE AND SAYING: "Courage and strength to the victims of cowardice. We are stronger than death, stronger than hate. Strength to the families." TRIBUTE SIGNS (SOUNDBITE) (French) DIRECTOR OF THE ARCHIVES OF PARIS, GUILLAUME NAHON, SAYING: "What is quite new is working in the street, gathering the archives in the street, we really did it this way, and also working with the cleaning teams of Paris, with garbage collectors. It was a collaboration that was for us totally unprecedented, original and very enriching from a human perspective." DRAWING MADE BY STUDENT, WITH WORDS (French): "Peace, love, paradise" TRIBUTE IN FORM OF A LADY BUG WITH MESSAGE (French): "It is very sad. It is an injustice." ORIGAMI GARLAND (SOUNDBITE) (French) ARCHIVIST, AUDREY CESELLI, SAYING: "Here, you can find a message that was written on a hamburger wrapper" MESSAGE OF SUPPORT ON BACK OF HAMBURGER WRAPPER (SOUNDBITE) (French) ARCHIVIST, AUDREY CESELLI, SAYING: "This jar was collected in front the Belle Equipe (bar), we find here an identification number that corresponds to the location, Belle Equipe. Here you see, each student was asked to insert either a message or a drawing inside the box." ONE OF THE MESSAGES, WITH EIFFEL TOWER AND SLOGAN THAT READS "Peace for Paris"
- Embargoed: 26th November 2016 17:12
- Keywords: archives Bataclan Place de la Republique restaurants Islamic State memorial La Belle Equipe tributes
- Location: PARIS, FRANCE
- City: PARIS, FRANCE
- Country: France
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,International/National Security
- Reuters ID: LVA0015804QPZ
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: France, led by President Francois Hollande will commemorate on Sunday the one-year anniversary of the November 13 attacks, the deadliest since the Second World War.
The coordinated attacks which left 130 people dead and wounded more than 300 others, triggered an outpouring of sympathy that materialised in makeshift memorials around the city, many of which stayed in place for months.
The Archives of the City of Paris is preserving the vast quantities of tributes as a record of history, saving them in digital form that will be made accessible to the public.
After the attacks, mourners flocked to the Bataclan theatre and the Place de la Republique to leave messages of sympathy and support.
Flowers, candles and notes also flooded the pavements outside the restaurants in the 10th and 11th district, where several people were shot dead.
In December 2015, two weeks after the attacks, an archives team began collecting tributes outside La Belle Equipe, one of the bars targeted by gunmen.
For eight months, teams have been going to various memorial sites, working with garbage collectors and attempting to salvage objects that were not destroyed by rain or other elements. They also went around various schools to gather notes and drawings made by students.
"I think the scale of the phenomenon, the number of messages that were left, really shows that it was an important event, and here I'm not speaking about the attacks, I'm speaking about the surge of solidarity that followed. This is an important event for the city of Paris, and the best source, the best testimonies of this solidarity are these documents," one of the archivists, Mathilde Pintault said.
It was the first time the Archives of the City of Paris carried out such a form of data collection. They normally work on administrative documents that are more than a decade old, not on objects spontaneously left outdoors, in the immediate aftermath of an event.
"What is quite new is working in the street, gathering the archives in the street, we really did it this way, and also working with the cleaning teams of Paris, with garbage collectors. It was a collaboration that was for us totally unprecedented, original and very enriching from a human perspective," director of the Archives of the city of Paris, Guillaume Nahon, said.
Around 9,200 documents have been cleaned, sorted, photographed and stored in the Archives building in northeastern Paris.
It includes messages of support in multiple languages, drawings by children, books, origami, and even a hamburger wrapper with a note behind it.
"Paris, in the name of liberty, your blood was poured. In the name of love, I cry with you. Liberty, we believe in your name," one message read. Images of the Eiffel Tower, and the slogan "Pray for Paris" recurred in the notes.
Nahon said the project also aimed at restoring normality to the areas affected by the attacks by removing sad and painful memories.
The Archives have not announced when the online "souvenirs" will be accessible. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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