The Shapeshifter
SCÉLÉRATES
Times and locations
>> THE PROJECT CONTINUES IN 2026!
• Wednesday, February 11, from 2:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.
• Wednesday, March 18, from 2:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.
• Wednesday, April 8, from 2:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. (replacing February 11)
• Wednesday, April 29, from 2:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.
• Wednesday, June 10, from 2:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.
“Le Foyer” at the Abattoir, 52 Quai St-Cosme; free admission—open to all
For more information:
cathy.descombes@chalondanslarue.com - 03 85 90 94 83
A company: Le Polymorphe
A location: Chalon-sur-Saône, specifically the Prés Saint-Jean neighborhood
Goal: to bring together about ten partner organizations and 100 participants (why not you?) for a long-term collective artistic adventure
A story: Facing rising waters together by creating magical cross-species alliances, foreshadowing joyful disappearances, and writing a new myth of the jellyfish
Timeline: February 2025 to July 2026
Final production: Chalon dans la rue festival 2026, with a first highlight at the 2025 festival
2026 – The adventure continues!
In 2025, as part of the Chalon dans la rue festival, the Le Polymorphe company presented *Avant la vague – prélude à Scélérates*, an initial artistic exploration of rising sea levels that blended textiles, video, and soundscapes.
This proposal took the form of an installation featuring 250 textile jellyfish, created over the course of the year by participants from a wide variety of organizations, accompanied by a screening of underwater footage shot with them.
In 2026, the company returns to create a new myth about the jellyfish titled Scélérates – Wrecks of the Future: Textile Atlantis , which will continue this commitment.
This new installment invites participants to collectively create a textile narrative, immersing themselves in a submerged world where rising waters become a source of renewal.
What do we want to preserve from a world that is disappearing? Memories, objects, imaginations, symbols. Can we spark an ecological and poetic renaissance, and envision a post-catastrophe world through artistic practices?
Through a new approach, participants will be engaged in an immersive, collaborative creative process designed to include a diverse range of audiences.
2025 - SCÉLÉRATES, Interactive textile and video installation
Together, we will create a public art installation that will be on display during the Chalon dans la rue festival.
We’ll be sewing and embroidering jellyfish at the community laundromat in Prés Saint-Jean, building “shipwrecks of the future,” and shooting underwater videos at the Grand Chalon Water Sports Center, and more.
We’re going to list everything we want to see disappear, so we can imagine liberating narratives and invite viewers into new realities.
We will continue to write the myth of the jellyfish, Medusa, the Gorgon—a decapitated woman brimming with power, both human and animal, multifaceted. She laughs.
We will reclaim our power to act, writing new stories alongside marginalized species and people, united in the fight for climate justice and a desirable future.
We’re going to make waves and joyfully smash the old world to pieces.
THE COMPANY
Le Polymorphe is a public arts company that creates choreographic and visual works in public spaces. It blends textiles, installations, the human body, and movement. Le Polymorphe seeks to shed light on major issues such as the role of women in public spaces, the disappearance of living organisms, current climate challenges, and more.
Partners
Project supported by 
Organizations involved in the project:
La Roche Fleurie Children’s Home, the day care center of the PEP 71 social inclusion division, the Sevrey EPSM, Foyer Arcadie, APAJH, the laundromat of the Régie de Quartier des Prés Saint-Jean, and the Grand Chalon sports department (Chalon-sur-Saône Aquatic Center and Camille Muffat Pool in Saint-Rémy)
Artistic Director: Maëva Longvert
Before the Wave – A Prelude to "Scélérates"
"Scélérate" is first and foremost the name of a wave well known to sailors. It is a dangerous, sudden, and unexpected wave that transforms into a wall of water that crashes head-on into ships. Scélérates is a series of artistic encounters centered on the collective creation of textiles depicting bodies and underwater imagery, revisiting the myth of the jellyfish.
Phone: 06-77-95-16-04
