 Modern culture in Marseille
The city of Marseille can offer culture from classical to modern and it is well provided with galleries, exhibition centres and music venues.
Yet Marseille is also a fertile hotbed of new talent and creativity. The city is a melting pot of ethnic cultures including Latin, Arab and African communities. Many immigrants arrived and then settled in the city during the 1960s. This has led to ethnic tensions but it has also created a heady cocktail of artistic influences.
The city's largest arts centre, La Friche, is an old tobacco factory that now harnesses and promotes the creative vibe of Marseille. A thousand artists from disciplines including film, theatre, music, dance and mime pass through La Friche every year. The arts centre also has up to three hundred artists in residence and a rooftop multimedia art display. The ethnically diverse rap group IAM is an example of some of the prominent young stars to come from Marseille's background of artistic energy and style.
Another important aspect of popular culture in Marseille is the city's football club, Olympique Marseille, or l'OM. It is one of France's most talented sides and six players in France's 1998 World Cup winning side were from the club.
Links
IAM, French rap group
A description, in English, of the this successful rap group from Marseille
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