Parkour: Ambassador for the Banlieue

Abstract

This essay looks at the urban activity parkour which first emerged in Lisses, France fifteen years ago. In particular it considers to what extent parkour can be regarded as synonymous with a shift towards pure movement identified by Paul Virilio, most notably, in his recent ‘Terre Natale’ exposition at the Fondation Cartier and therefore part of a process of displacement or dislocation from a founding identity conceived in terms of one’s birthplace, hometown and citizenship. As a counter to this concept of pure movement, the essay also looks at how parkour can act as a mediator between different spaces, territories and identities. With specific reference to Luc Besson’s Banlieue 13 (2004) and Banlieue 13: Ultimatum (2009) we suggest possible ways in which parkour has acted, and continues to act, as an ambassador for the banlieue