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New publications

The Documents d'artistes Network is developing a critical support program consisting of initiating meetings between artists and authors to encourage the writing of original texts on contemporary artistic approaches.

This year, thanks to the support of the Fondation de l'Olivier*, three new collaborations have been implemented by DDA-AuRA. We are pleased to unveil the resulting new publications:
— Émilie Perotto seen by Balqis Tandjaoui
— Simon Feydieu seen by Amélie Lucas-Gary
— Olivier Nottellet seen by Eugénie Zély

The Fondation de l'Olivier thus allows us to strengthen our commitment to visibility and knowledge of the work of artist-authors.

* Sheltered by the Bullukian Foundation, the Fondation de l'Olivier's main mission is solidarity and support for artistic expression in the Lyon region.

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Thematic tour

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— September 2024

Crossing the water

On the occasion of the 17th Lyon Contemporary Art Biennale, this thematic tours proposed by Jade Ronat-Mallié presents a selection of works echoing the title of this new edition: “Les voix des fleuves, Crossing the water”.

Salmon are anadromous fish: they are born in fresh water, then migrate to salt water to return to finish their days and lay their eggs at the place of their birth, thus crossing thousands of kilometers.
I imagined them going back up the watercolors of the course of La Vilaine painted by Sylvie Sauvageon, according to the original surveys of 1543. I saw them following the Rhône and crossing the same landscape as the one taken by Bertrand Stofleth, from the glacier of the Swiss Alps to the Mediterranean Sea.
I wondered if they could cross a smaller watercourse, like the one running alongside the village of Sainte-Colombe-en-Auxois, whose photographic portrait of the inhabitants was drawn by Rajak Ohanian. I saw them still moving forward, hesitant but tirelessly, like the drop of water in the film “1752 mètres et des poussières…” by Linda Sanchez.

Then I thought back to the documentary “La Rivière” by Dominique Marchais (2023) in which a researcher explains that through a tiny stone contained in the inner ear of salmon, composed of successive layers of calcium carbonate and proteins, he can glimpse the life history of the entire species.
What would the human “ear stone” be made of and what would it tell us? Would it resemble Gaëlle Foray’s fossils, composed of schists sedimented at a time when our mountains were still underwater?
If rocks have a memory of the evolution of our environment, what stigma are we leaving? This is partly one of the questions raised by Camille Llobet in her documentary essay “Pacheû” on the traces of climate change in the high mountains.

In another field of research, Guillaume Robert went to Goražde to rebuild a mini hydroelectric power station, with the help of the mechanic who initiated the design of similar machines in 1993 during the siege of the Serbian army in Bosnia. Its reactivation launched on the Drina is the subject of an eponymous film. By emphasizing the political dimension of the river, he also reminds us that human activity has always been intrinsically linked to water.
With the “Aster” project, Delphine Gigoux-Martin intervenes on another type of structure dedicated to the exploitation of waterways, the Saint-Étienne-Cantalès hydroelectric dam. Like the chimeras projected by the artist on the construction, we are ephemeral inhabitants, a layer sedimented by our activities on Earth.

In light of our exposed contradictions, Maxime Lamarche’s work “Midnightswim”, depicting a wreck of a Ford Taunus sinking in the water, keeps coming back to me with this nagging question: could this be the last midnight swim?

— List of the mentioned artists :

  • Sylvie Sauvageon
  • Bertrand Stofleth
  • Rajak Ohanian
  • Linda Sanchez
  • Gaëlle Foray
  • Camille Llobet
  • Delphine Gigoux-Martin
  • Guillaume Robert
  • Maxime Lamarche
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Since 2010, Documents d’Artistes Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes has developed an online documentary collection dedicated to the work of visual artists and designers of the territory. A tool for knowledge of contemporary creation, the site represents the works of more than a hundred artists, enriching each year with new digital publications accessible to all audiences. The work of web publishing is completed by actions of diffusion, communication and professional accompaniment of the artists in the duration.

  • 110 Artists

    whose work
    is represented
    on the website

  • 30 440 Images

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  • 420 Videos

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  • 845 Texts

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