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The Lyric Mill’s Open Portal Project
Designed as an annual encounter where cultural heritage meets contemporary creation, the Lyric Mill’s Open Portal was launched in 2025 in Metz-le-Comte, Burgundy, to foster dialogue between cultures.
The program brings together cultural actors from near and far and takes place at the Morizot Mill, now called the Lyric Mill, with the ambition of becoming a hub for poetry, music, and art in the Nivernais region.
It offers audiences a wide range of high-quality artistic experiences, including a dedicated section for young people to spark cultural awareness and nurture their artistic potential.
The project was initiated by the mill’s owners, Jasmina Šopova, former editor-in-chief of The UNESCO Courier and president of the Aco Šopov Poetry Foundation, and Nicolas Journet, Section Editor for Books at Sciences Humaines (Auxerre).
For the “Lyric Millers,” promoting the cultural heritage — especially intangible heritage — of the Nièvre, and the Burgundy-Franche-Comté region, is just as important as celebrating cultural diversity.
Accordingly, the first edition paid tribute to two heritage poets — Adam Billaut (1602–1662), the “carpenter-poet of Nevers,” and Luís de Camões (1525–1580), the Portuguese national poet — as well as the modern Macedonian poet Aco Šopov (1923–1982).
Excellence is at the heart of the Lyric Mill’s approach, and program quality is a defining feature of the event.
This focus on excellence was clear from the very first edition, which featured Jean Portante, one of Luxembourg’s most celebrated poets; Nicole Huc, actress at the Théâtre de la Huchette, “the smallest of Paris’s great theaters”; and Bacchus, described by L'Est républicain as a “cult company.” Audiences also enjoyed performances by Bevinda, a Portuguese fado singer based in Arcy-sur-Cure (Yonne) with an extensive discography, and Bénédicte Moubarak, a painter living between Moux-en-Morvan, Paris, and Lebanon, whose work is inspired by her artistic vision and social and environmental engagement. The edition also featured around ten other artists with distinctive voices, both established and emerging, from the local area, other regions of France, and abroad, contributing to the richness and diversity of the program.
Detailed information about participants and events is available on the dedicated pages of this website. For each edition of the Lyric Mill’s Open Portal, visitors can find the complete program, artist profiles, and specific details for every event — in French.
A Gem of Nièvre’s Cultural Heritage
The venue of this cultural event is itself a jewel of Nièvre’s heritage. The Lyric Mill, historically known as Moulin Berson, appears on the oldest general map of the Kingdom of France, created by the Cassini family of cartographers between 1756 and 1815. Genealogical and historical records attest to its existence as far back as the 17th century.
According to the statistics of the Clamecy district, published in 1859 by sub-prefect Auguste-Louis Marlière, it was listed as a small hamlet named Moulin Morizot, consisting of four dwellings with 14 residents.
By 1865, it appeared in the Topographical Dictionary of the Nièvre Department, which records both ancient and modern place names, under the name Moulin Morizot, compiled under the auspices of the Nièvre Society of Letters, Sciences, and Arts.
The mill was also immortalized on a postcard published by the bookseller E. Goulet of Clamecy, dating from around 1891 to 1911. At that time, it was known as Cougnot.
Berson, Morizot, Cougnot… the mill’s many names inspired “The Whimsical Story of the Mill That Doesn’t Know Its Name” (in French), a tale for both adults and children written by Jasmina Šopova, especially for the inauguration of the Lyric Mill’s Open Portal. The cultural event began on July 12, 2025, bringing together 15 artists and an audience of approximately 200 people, twice the population of the village.
Among the attendees, a group of around ten children, aged 4 to 14, took part in a special program: the workshop “Draw Me a Mill”, which culminated in an exhibition and the awarding of medals to all the young artists.
Behind the Portal of the Lyric Mill
It is behind the gates of this centuries-old mill that a cultural program unfolds, one that goes beyond the ordinary and that the “Lyric Millers” are eager to share with residents and visitors of the Nièvre.
The program unfolds in various places of the mill’s garden, including: the Recreation Ground, the Small Terrace, the Woodshed-Theater, the Meadow, the Waterfall, the Veranda, the Veranda Forecourt, and the Pool House.
The project is designed for all ages and aims to raise public awareness of cultural heritage, open perspectives on contemporary artistic creation, and celebrate cultural diversity. It transforms the Lyric Mill into a living space for cultural exchange, offering artistic encounters, workshops, and activities that also allow visitors to discover the site and its history.
