Jean Blaise

Jean Blaise was born in Algiers in 1951. After studying literature at the University of Bordeaux, he became Director of the Centre culturel de Saint-Médard-en-Jalles in 1976, followed by the Centre d’action culturelle de Chelles from 1977 to 1979. He was then tasked with establishing the Scène nationale de la Guadeloupe (1980–1982), before becoming the founding director of the Maison de la culture de Nantes (1982–1983) and, from 1984, Director of the Centre de recherche pour le développement culturel.

In 2000, he founded and became Director of Le Lieu unique in Nantes. He later became Director of Le Voyage à Nantes, a cultural initiative dedicated to promoting the Nantes metropolitan area. In 2014, he was appointed President of the Mission nationale d’art et de culture dans l’espace public (MNACEP) at the French Ministry of Culture.

Jean Blaise has also created numerous cultural events, including the Les Allumées festival, the Hué Festival in Vietnam, Paris’s Nuit Blanche (2002 and 2005), and the Estuaire contemporary art biennial in 2007. Since 2015, he has also served as Artistic Director of the celebrations marking the 500th anniversary of Le Havre.