C'est Marseille, bébé

Dossier: Four love letters to Marseille – penned by curators and writers – celebrate the cultural and political spirit of France’s second city

- by Taous Dahmani, Oriane Durand, Cristina Sanchez-Kozyreva and Wilson Tarbox

Finding a home in the midst of complex socio-historical dynamics by Taous Dahmani

Between Two Shores

IN MARSEILLE, there's a ritual: after work, you head to the beach, crack open a beer and watch the sun sink into the Mediterranean. It’s easy to fall in love with the city during that golden hour, when the sky burns pink and orange and the waves shimmer and sparkle. The evening light glances off cargo ships – reminders of Marseille’s long history as a trading hub – and the ferry that links France to its North African neighbours: Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia.

According to the 2019 census, immigrants from the Maghreb made up 46 percent of the foreign-born population in Marseille’s metropolitan area. Despite the city’s pull, my Algerian father chose Paris when he immigrated in the late 1970s. But, as an adult, I found my second ahome in Marseille and, though I now live in London, my heart still belongs to this hectic and complex city. Walking through places such as Noailles Market, which sells foods from the African continent, vendors remember me – not for my face but for my name, which is the same as their grandmothers and great-aunts. After a night out, taxi drivers refuse my fare, insisting they need to get me home safely.

The neighbourhoods around the Vieux-Port – Le Panier, Belsunee, Noailles – carry the weight of Marseille’s long entanglement with Algeria. The city’s port played a pivotal role in France’s invasion of Algeria in 1830, marking the start of 132 years of colonial occupation. Ships carried