CANNES.- Every summer the Musée de la Mer plays host to photographers, visual artists and great travellers exhibitions, which are unmissable events on the French Riviera.

For almost 20 years, Cannes museums have been exhibiting the works of photographers, whose international aura has contributed to the town’s cultural renown. The works of great traveller photographers such as Nicolas Bouvier in 1999, Bruce Chatwin in 2001 and Ella Maillart in 2005 have been showcased there. The models of visual artist photographers such as Mimmo Jodice in 2002 and Olivier Mériel in 2005 have harmoniously interspersed the artistic style of the photography exhibitions.

Focusing on the theme of a Mediterranean journey, major travel routes across the globe, roaming in the secret heart of Cannes, or long-haul horizons, the summer photography exhibitions in Cannes museums are an invitation to escape.

The exhibition entitled « MEDITERRANEO », the sea surrounded by land, runs from 6 July to 30 September 2013, presenting the works of the famous visual artist, Georges Rousse, a photographer who combines space and architecture in a time of his own. A photographer, painter, sculptor and architect, Georges Rousse works with space, in two or three dimensions, on ephemeral artwork which he photographs. He transforms a place temporarily by setting up geometric shapes, hanging lines or words, which don’t stand out at first glance, but which the photographic lens reveals, for there is only one angle, and one specific point in space which can unveil the project as a whole.

Georges Rousse has created and exhibited his works worldwide, in Europe, in Asia (Japan, Korea, China, Nepal), in the United States, in Quebec, in Latin America, however it was at the heart of the Mediterranean, in Rome in the Villa Medici, which distinguished him with an award, that he honed his skills by becoming one of the great visual artists of the 20th and 21st centuries. The artist has come to Cannes, for the duration of an exhibition of his works, including 3 exhibits in prestigious locations: the Musée de la Mer and at the heart of the highly contemporary new Cannes hospital complex opened at the end of 2011.

The photography exhibition tells us about an imaginary Mediterranean people who are represented in the works created by Georges Rousseau, from Rome to Cannes, under the auspices of the Greek Goddess of the Earth, Gaia, who introduces the exhibition. The event is a tribute to the Mediterranean sites which have attracted his interest over the years: Sicily, Athens, Cyprus, Jerusalem, Alexandria, etc.

Throughout the summer in Cannes, visitors will be able to come to the prison corridor of the Musée de la Mer and see a golden star set on a vault which appears to be floating in space. Visitors have to stand at a certain height and in a specific position for the optical illusion to work. The star, a simple geometrical shape, is very symbolic in our societies: whether myth or religious beliefs, the shepherd’s star led to Great News. Sailors’ stars, the Southern Cross or the Northern star both guide ships. In the Iron Mask’s prison cell, it was the only star that the prisoner could see.