Despite strong results at the end of June during the first round of voting in the French elections, Marine Le Pen's National Rally (Rassemblement National, RN, founded as the Front National by Jean-Marie Le Pen in 1972) fell to third place. The results of Sunday's elections marked a victory for the left-wing New Popular Front (NPF), a tactical green-left alliance that managed to prevent the far right from winning an absolute majority. The NPF won 182 seats, an unlikely result as polls indicated a major surge from the far-right, followed by President Emmanuel Macron's centrist Together alliance with 163 seats, and the far right in third with 143 seats (still a historic result with a dramatic increase from 88 seats in the previous parliament).
That said, no single group won an absolute majority of 289 seats in the 577-seat National Assembly, and the ability to form a government, so the future government may be uncertain. The parliament will indeed find itself divided into three blocs: the left, centrists, and the far right. In the meantime, Prime Minister Gabriel Attal handed his resignation to President Macron (but he may have to stay in his role considering the upcoming Olympic Games in Paris and the important duties he may still have to fulfill).
Jordan Bardella, the RN president, called the parties that teamed up a "disgraceful alliance," while Le Pen, who wants to run for president for the far right in 2027, warned that the far right's rise to power will continue.
Last month, Macron called snap elections after a rise in the far-right National Rally in the European parliamentary elections. France's rejection of the far right, along with last week's UK general election where the center-left Labour party achieved a landslide victory, were hailed as progressive signs with voters ready to preserve democracy and social values, despite the recent rise of far-right parties at the European elections.
As voting projections were announced, left-wing supporters gathered in the streets of France to celebrate. Some of the videos and images posted showed the Place de la République in central Paris filled with people holding flags and a giant banner in the colors of the French flag.
The red, white, and blue sections of the giant flag were formed by different textile swatches in the designated colors, with the message "La France Est Tissu De Migrations" (France is Woven from Migrations) written in the middle, a sentence adapted from Joël Auxenfants.
In 2013, the artist did a project creating posters and flags in pale and light cobalt, white, and carmine to contrast with the bright blue and red adopted by the far-right, with the message "French is Woven from Migrations" (Le Français est tissu de migrations).
In more recent years artist Maya-Inès Touam did instead a project entitled "La France Est Tissu De Migrations,” and created a map of France made with the fabrics from African diasporas defining the different regions of France. In this way, she reminded viewers that documents are not the only trace of transmission, as the fabrics we wear are oral and material transmissions that point to our identities and heritage.
The banner displayed in Paris after the results of the elections started arriving, was a combination of Joël Auxenfants's slogan and flag concept, and of Maya-Inès Touam's slogan and patchwork technique.
The banner was made by the Chômeuse Go On collective: in the last few weeks the group organized a call to sew several flags from fabrics from around the world with the slogan "France is woven from migrations." Dubbed the Grand Embellissement, one giant ten-meter by six-meter flag made with the help of volunteers was unveiled in Nantes on July 6th and then brought to Paris for the celebrations after the results came out. The collective also encouraged people to make their own flags and display them in their windows.
There is a strong symbolism behind the choice of this medium: the giant flag is not just a banner to display a message, nor merely a symbol of resistance. The different fabrics physically represent the diversity of people, each piece contributing to the larger whole.
Sewn by a collective of people, the flag also embodies a tangible token of what unity can achieve. It demonstrates how individuals, coming together, can create something significant - from stitching a giant piece of art to uniting in the fight against the far right. This textile creation serves as a powerful reminder that collective effort and solidarity can overcome even the most formidable challenges. Perhaps, in this vibrant patchwork, there is a lesson for us all.
Comments