The street art performance took place over the course of 24 hours on the rooftop of SITA’s Paris offices
This week, SITA’s office in Neuilly-sur-Seine welcomed young street artist César Malfi and photographer Laurent Leoncini for a unique and globally unprecedented art performance. This event took place in parallel with SITA Open Day, an annual event dedicated to learning, appreciation, and wellbeing.
Over the course of 24 hours — from 1pm on 15 September to 1pm on 16 September — César painted a fresco while Laurent captured a series of artistic snapshots highlighting the beauty of César’s work as well as the striking views of the Parisian skyline as seen from SITA’s rooftop. According to organizers WeLocArt, a street art performance taking place continuously over 24 hours is to date a worldwide first.
The general public, including SITA employees across the globe, were able to follow the performance in real time thanks to a livestream, while the SITA team at the Parisian site attended in person over the two days. In parallel, local parkour experts from Union Sportive Fontenaysienne (USF) forged a scenic path across Paris to see the event.
César created a unique work of art taking inspiration from several highly pertinent themes: Paris, ecology, sustainable development, and the world of tomorrow — as well as transportation, a pillar of SITA’s identity. The artist used eco-responsible materials with biocompatible components to craft a 3×2 meter fresco.
2020 was a challenging year for the air transport industry, forcing most of SITA’s office-based employees to work from home. Almost 18 months on, colleagues have started to return to the office and have welcomed the opportunity to again share their experience with their colleagues through SITA’s Open Day, an employee appreciation day which returns after an absence of two years.
Benoit Vedel, Paris location leader, SITA, said: “We are delighted to have been able to host this innovative, engaging, and inspiring performance art event for our SITA teams and for the air transport community. We admire the creativity of the artists and organizers who put together a truly special event. After a deeply challenging period for our employees and our industry, we are more grateful than ever for the opportunity to experience the beauty of art in person and make this year’s Open Day one to remember.”
Open Day is an event held annually across 28 SITA offices aimed at celebrating employees and promoting wellbeing, collaboration, and learning through shared experiences. The art performance served as an inspired complement to the activities of Open Day 2021, which took place from 15-17 September in person as well as virtually.
SITA sees this performance as an invitation to employees to celebrate art, the city of Paris, and SITA’s core values. Highlighting sustainable development and ecological considerations, this work takes on added significance for SITA which last week announced its certification as a CarbonNeutral® company and prioritizes sustainability in its IT solutions for aircraft and airports.
John Valentin, Founder, WeLocArt, said: “The performance from César Malfi, Laurent Leoncini, and the USF parkour experts surpassed all expectations. The talents of the artists, the themes inspiring the work, and the magnificent site of its creation all contributed to an extraordinary event. The occasion also benefitted greatly from the team spirit and convivial atmosphere the SITA employees brought to the rooftop throughout the two days. We’re proud to bring our experience in crafting creative and one-of-a-kind events to SITA, whom we thank for their support of the arts and their willingness to celebrate their employees in such an original way.”