Lovers of French chanson, particularly the golden age of the 70s and 80s, will know who Barbara is – a singer with uniquely poignant vocals, melodies and lyrics who handed away in 1997.
Her archives have solely simply been donated to the BnF (the Nationwide Library), and now a free exhibition about her is being organised at their Mitterrand website near our motels, with a lot of data in regards to the life, inventive course of and explicit fashion of this icon of the French scene, with a selected highlight on her relationship with those that liked her music.
It’s been near thirty years since torch songstress Barbara left us (and shortly the centenary of her delivery!), however her songs are nonetheless simply as common as ever. And but, the brand new era of listeners could not know a lot about her, that her first time on stage was in 1954, and that her first 7″ report was launch in 1958 (she went on to report a powerful fifteen studio albums).
Now, due to a big donation to the Nationwide Library by the Affiliation Barbara Perlimpinpin in 2023, the time has come to pay homage to this achieved artist and interesting lady whose musical legacy has proved extra sturdy than many would have anticipated.
That includes posters, sheet music, pictures, newspaper clippings and even letters from followers, guests will be capable to learn the way Barbara the girl turned Barbara the artist, with extra particulars about her assist within the battle in opposition to HIV and AIDS (which was uncommon amongst celebrities again then) and the distinctive love story between her and her followers.
Certainly it’s her followers that we now have to thank for creating the archive round her work. When Barbara died, as she had no descendants, all her affairs had been offered off at public sale, and followers managed to purchase many heaps to ensure that them to be saved for posterity. With out the affiliation of followers that coordinated these purchases and fashioned them right into a collective archive, every thing about Barbara would have been misplaced.
Fortunately, we at the moment are in a position to study and cross on every thing in regards to the singer, from her beginnings in small Belgian cabaret rooms to her well-known phrases on the scene of Paris’ revered Bobino live performance corridor (“Ma plus belle histoire d’amour, c’est vous” – My most stunning love story is you”), and the exhibition might be the primary time that most of the people has been in a position to get such an in-depth appreciation of the life and work of this enigmatic however enduring persona.
The exhibition Dis quand reviendras-tu ? Barbara et son public is on the BnF (Nationwide Library – right here) from twenty seventh January – fifth April 2026
Open Tuesday-Saturday, 10am-7pm, and Sundays from 1-7pm
Admission: free!
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