“We have the impression that Johnny will be there, we imagine him sitting on the bed!“Laeticia Hallyday, who came to observe the preparations in Brussels for the exhibition on the “idol of young people”, confides that she was moved by the reconstruction of the star’s teenage bedroom. Elvis record covers on the wall, a photo of Brigitte Bardot, a guitar, a record player, trinkets… Johnny’s room at his aunt’s, 13 rue de la Tour des Dames in Paris, has been recreated as faithfully as possible, according to the pictures available.
“It’s quite upsetting“, recognizes Laeticia, co-producer of the exhibition on Johnny Hallyday which will be held in Brussels from December, five years after the death of the French rock icon. The traveling exhibition will then head to Paris, then to other cities in France, to “go and meet people”, as Johnny did, she explains.
“I really wanted to continue to bring his memory and his work to life, this project is a way of bringing him back to life, of being closer to him, it’s a journey through the whole story of his life.“, adds Laeticia. In all its facets: “The man, his fragility, his sensitivity, his humility, and the excessive artist that he was“.
The spectacle and the intimate come together in this “immersive” exhibition of 3,000 m2, whose plan follows the shape of a guitar. The visitor will be guided by the voice of actor Jean Reno. In the center, a 360-degree video of concert extracts will be projected. The public will be able to admire around thirty stage costumes and around fifty guitars. The show’s Europe 1 studio Hi buddies of the 1960s, the singer’s office in his house in Marnes-la-Coquette where he spent the last moments of his life, as well as the cinema he had set up there will also be reproduced.
“I’ve been carrying out this project for two years, I’ve been nourished by everything I’ve learned from it“, confides Laeticia Hallyday, while craftsmen are busy building the sets, in the workshop of the Brussels agency Tempora, organizer of the event.I think he would have been very proud of everything that has been done for these two years“, she continues.
The traveling exhibition devoted to David Bowie was a “source of inspiration“, explains Laeticia Hallyday again. She also surrounded herself with Clémence Farrell, scenographer for the Parisian version of the retrospective dedicated to the British star in 2015. But why start the exhibition in Brussels?This is where the co-producers of the exhibition are based“, emphasizes Laeticia. “And then there is a part of Johnny’s story in Belgium, his father’s country”she adds.
“He loved Brussels, when he arrived here it was really a party“, comments the former producer of Johnny, Jean-Claude Camus, who has a role of consultant for the event. It was also during a concert in Brussels that Johnny and him were reconciled , after several years of estrangement.”I’m a bit like Johnny’s memory, I dated him for 35 years anyway! I bring my memories, I try to transcribe things exactly as they happened“, he explains. “People are going to approach it more closely (…) I think it’s good to bring all this back to the public. He held such a place, for so long and above everyone…“
More than three thousand tickets were sold in a few days for the exhibition in Brussels, scheduled from December 20 to June 30, 2023, for which the organizers hope for 175,000 entries. The exhibition will then move to Paris, Porte de Versailles, from January 2024.