On Tuesday, November 21, HSH Prince Albert inaugurated the exhibition ‘The Prince at the heart of the Circus’, in the company of His sister, HSH Princess Stéphanie and her children, Louis Ducruet and Camille Gottlieb, as well as Minister of State Pierre Dartout and numerous officials of the Principality.
President of the Commemoration Committee of Prince Rainier III, HSH Princess Stéphanie initiated this exhibition which is part of the Centenary of the birth of her father and the 50th anniversary of the Monte-Carlo International Circus Festival. This captivating retrospective is coordinated by the Department of Cultural Affairs as well as the Prince Rainier III Commemoration Committee, in collaboration with Monte-Carlo Festivals and open to the public from November 22, 2023 to January 28, 2024, within the former Museum of Automobiles, located on the Terrasses de Fontvieille.
The International Circus Festival was founded in 1974 by Prince Rainier III who led numerous initiatives supporting the circus world. His visionary spirit and his kindness towards the artists and the animals were able to give new life to the circus arts, the Government said in a press release. At the heart of the exhibition, the story of Prince Rainier III and the Circus unfolds, between tradition and modernity, which has made this Festival an unmissable meeting of the greatest families and circus schools around the world, where virtuosity, exploits, laughter and magic combine, for the enjoyment of spectators.
Charlène Dray, scientific curator and scenographer, and Lucas Lemme, scenographer, were guided by the words of the Prince, who said that “the circus is experienced with the senses and that it is above all a living art”. His writings and testimonies accompany the visitor on a journey where video extracts, unpublished documents from the archives of the Prince’s Palace of Monaco, numerous costumes from the collection of Dr Alain Frère and other works have been brought together for the very first time.
ORIGINAL SOURCE & PHOTO: Monaco Government Press Service
