Come and dwell at the Café Plùm

Our Oasis In The Crisis team visited a must-see location in the Tarn, a place where music, litterature and gastronomy meet.

The Cafe Plum is located in Lautrec in the Tarn, a small medieval village on the top of a hill...

 

To get a chance to notice the iron-crafted sign for the entrance, you first need to wander around the paved streets and their ravishing timebered walls. After turning right and going through the door, you get to a courtyard with a tree at the center, looking down a bunch of chairs and tables all set for teatime. Let's keep going… Inside the Cafe Plum, you will be engulfed in a cozy atmosphere. Over there you can see a bar and the mouth-watering menu written on slates. Below on the right you can hear loud chatter from the basement where a concert is being played tonight. At the back, a bookshop in which you know you could get lost for hours...

 

But no, we came here to meet Maiwen, one of the co-founders of the Cafe. She was expeting us, she invites us to sit down by her side.

3 hours of experience-sharing follow : from the creation of the Cafe Plum, what it offers, to the difficulty the founders encountered and still face today… Why did they onto such an adventure ? Why here ?

We wish to ask her so many questions… We are very indeed very enthousiast about this project… A cultural Café, a place for peopleof various age groups to meet, which mixes social and professional status, political opinions and lifestyles. Pretty impressive.

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It would take pages to give an actual overview of this project, given how rich this interview has been. So i'll try to make it short :

This project stems from a 10 years-old associative project, « Ma Case », which is active in supporting World Music artists and albums. This association then turned towards scheduling events all around the south of Tarn, a project led by Kadiatou. A cooperation dynamic took off. Stephane became the president and the two of them set up the « Culture Vagabonde » World Music festival in the south Tarn. They wanted to work with schools and pupils and do artistic mediation.

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Maiwenn was working in a national stage and liveshow network with a festival about the emergence. She met Kadiatou several times and they realized they had the same values and workstyle.

An obvious trio and the beginning of a project to share.

How did you begin to talk about the idee of a Cultural Cafe ?

This is precisely by chatting together that those three « associates » expressed their wishes, their dreams with the only constraint being : do not set limits.

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Thanks to a real estate opportunity in Lautrec, followed by bank negociations and agreements the project could set off, with serious hardships to come, yet a victory in the end. Our trio could count on some mentoring and financial supports, especially the IES (intiative for a solidary economy). The starting capital was 30 000€ all inclusive.

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The Café Pum used to be an SARL, now it's a SCIC (Collective Interest Cooerative Society). It''s showcasting several activities : a bookshop with a partnership with the Terra Nova bookshop in Toulouse, a café/bar/restaurant with local ingredients, intercultural mediation in schools and a cultural program managed by the association « Ma Case ».

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« The identity of this place matches a « militant » space, which boasts solidarity in social economy values. The goal isn't to reach new « clients », but to form a « group of users » 

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What about the governance model ?

Each person equals a vote. (In a SCIC : each College equals a vote) but actually don't use a precise governance model. However, interactions happen without hierarchy and with overall kindness.

« Naturally some disagreements hav occured but we solved them thanks togood communication, respect and kindness, also with intervention of a third party. For example : asking for the support of the DLA, local mentoring organization on some specific items. This allows tofocusnot on individual objectives but rather on the projects goals. This allows each individual to find the meaning they want to put into the project. »

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What type of organization do the associates use to work together ?

At the Cafe Plum, every employee or associate takes on a component of the project (bookshop, restaurant, acounting…) For the cultural part, they all put in efforts. The three co-founders where originally skilled in culture and event planning (with their work at Ma Case).

 

Do the volunteers pay an important part in the running the Café Plum ?

« The volunteers spend as much time and energy as they wish to according the various needs of the place. The Café isn't really a place where volunteers will gather – it's rather to cater to specific needs of the Café that volunteers get involved. The people who invest their time here are mostly independent, but now the SCIC is getting set up, it's going to be necessary to re-organize the way volunteers work because it's necessary. »

 

Who are the users of the Cafe ?

« Today, the café has a strong bond with the inhabitants. It's a friendly and warm place where they are welcome. They also come here to buy books at the café's bookshop. Still, at the beginning of the project, some people got scared and were intimidated by the books. They went for a coffee and had to face « intellectuals »… Little by little people got used to the venue and opened up to new propositions. That's where the project actually takes offand reaches its purpose. The café actually has a value as a tool for cultural mediation thanks to its accessibility.

Age groups : It is most difficult with young people (15-25 year-olds) : they don't visit.

The attendance is varied, from people coming to have a drink to persons who are more interested in what is offered culturewise.

Regarding the shows, the Tarn's inhabitants will gladly use their car to move around. They will readily drive 30 minutes to wtach a show they are interested in. Regarding the books we witness a more local interest. »

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After several cupsof tea and coffee and passionate discussions the interview with Maiwenn comes to an end. How strong and friendly she's been ! We are all astonished to learn about the history of this venue we are carefreely chatting in.

 

All those steps and work it took to get there. We realize how complex it's been yet at the same time we find ourselves hoping and dreaming at our own project ideas… Without constraints or limits… What if everything was actually possible ?