Paris streets flooded with Games-related protests. GETTY IMAGES

Tensions escalate in Paris as various forms of activism gain momentum. Notable actions include an "anti-racism dance" organised in support of singer Aya Nakamura, and activists making statues in the city 'talk' to raise awareness of homeless people's struggles.

Activists from 'SOS Racisme' held an "anti-racism dance" in front of the headquarters of the National Rally (RN) party - a far-right group - to protest against Marine Le Pen's remarks about the possible participation of singer Aya Nakamura in the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games on 26 July, performing Edith Piaf songs, as published by L'Express since the end of February.

Marine Le Pen, leader of the RN, rejected this idea, accusing President Emmanuel Macron of wanting to "divide" and "humiliate" the French by mentioning "her clothes", "her vulgarity" or the fact that "she doesn't sing in French".

The reaction of the 20 or so activists was to dance the Franco-Malian songs of Aya Nakamura and Edith Piaf in front of the closed and locked RN headquarters, as confirmed by an AFP journalist. They had the message: "France is not humiliated by black people, it is humiliated by racists."

Dominique Sopo, the president of SOS Racisme, said: "We are preparing to welcome everyone to the Olympic Games, and we have a controversy because some want to send our most important francophone artist to Bamako, symbolically or not so symbolically."

Another concern for activists from several associations during the Games is the situation of people living on the streets. Months ago, the organisations denounced the forced evictions of vulnerable people.

According to Paul Alauzy, spokesman for 'Revers de la médaille', a coalition of some 80 associations and NGOs, groups of activists used several statues to convey messages, including phrases such as "social cleansing as a legacy".



Months before the Olympic event, "3,500 people are sleeping in the streets and a thousand in gyms" in Paris, the collective pointed out. "It is necessary to take care of them so that the celebration is beautiful and dignified for everyone."

In front of the Senate, activists symbolically marked a "first test" for the Games by releasing floats resembling the Olympic rings into the fountain of the Luxembourg Gardens, according to an AFP journalist who witnessed the event.

In Dugny, north of Paris, 60 to 70 environmental activists from the Right to Housing (DAL) protested against gentrification and large-scale construction near the future Media City of the Games. The demonstration was organised in response to a call from the 'Youth for Climate' collective.