Another episode of the Australian adventure: a joint exhibition with colleagues from there in Manningham Gallery: Jane ANNOIS, Judy and Ric PIERCE, Sandy LOCKWOOD, Veronique PENGILLEY, Vicki GRIMA, WendyJAGGER, Robert BARRON.

Sylvie and Jean-Marc were our ambassadors and they could taste the dishes prepared for the opening by chef Gabriel Gaté. Lucky mates…

of “Cluny 2010″, 1100th anniversary of the Abbey.
If the bridge between China and Cluny in the Middle Ages is not so obvious, the theme of the exhibition was the relationship between East and West, between China and Christianity. As evidenced by the stele erected in 781 in Chang’an (now Xi’an) to commemorate the arrival of the Nestorian Christians from Persia.
In response to this event, a dark stone stele was engraved by Gong Tao, Kang Xinying and Francois Gauthier with the assistance and valuable support of the company Jacques Louis at Cluny.

EXHIBITION’S ARTISTS

In reference to the twelve gates that were symbolically opened in September 2009 in Cluny, I wanted to establish twelve bounds on a hypothetical Silk Road. Twelve steps on this path strewn with pitfalls and pleasures, doubts and choice, hopelessness and determination. A journey of a couple in search of the birthplace of light and, having enriched knowledge throughout this trip, thinking finally reach the source, but realizes that the sun always rises farther in the east.

Each boundary stone is a step on the road and the construction of the one who follow it.
With the bound 1 and 12, I wanted to represent the gates of the cities of departure and arrival. The light succeeds the dark like the day succeeds the night and all variations of this world.
The bound 7 is a stage of rest and reflection. It could be near a caravanserai of Samarkand, where, during a slightly extended break, a melancholy comes over our travelers who hesitate to continue the way. I wanted it to be covered with graffiti expressing the mood of the moment of the one who traces. So I hand over it to the grazing pen of visitors who droped in the studio.

The pictures of steles are made by Bertrand LAUPRETE et Pierre PLATTIER

“La Tour du Bost”! Amazing, that tower planted in the middle of a farmyard! It’s in this strange place that Jean-Pierre Bouley proposed exhibit, Anne Mathonnière and myself.

The farm is operated by the family Dubreuil and here is the famous “ GAEG des Engoulevents ” which offers a wide variety of plants including an incredible collection of hostas.

The National Days of Ceramics were an opportunity to pay tribute to Frederic Chaudat, a potter disappeared before he could fire in the kiln he had so carefully built. We were ten to fill the 2 m3 of this “ chainette ” kiln (Marc Brasseur, Anne-Marie Kelecom, Jean-Simon Foatelli, Josephte Grange-Sarles, Malik Dellidj, Pascal Shimpf, Marie Serreau, Vanessa Rousseau, Patrick Buté and I).

Hosted by Monique, Frederic’s wife, we fired for two days to reach 1280 ° C. This kiln works perfectly. We planned three days of firering because we did’nt want to rush this old new body, but he wanted to go faster than us.

Australia: it goes on! December 2008, we are in Sardieux to fill the boxes of our pieces. It is on schedule, the exhibition begins February 27. But it was not counting on the weather and the 1.5 cm of snow had blocked all activity on the port of Marseille. Result, boxes started late and if Yves and Bridget did’nt intervene, they would not arrive on time. They were intercepted in Singapore and ended the trip by plane. The opening could take place on the scheduled day, but unfortunately, only Sylvie and Jean-Marc were able to attend.

 Narek galleries  -  Tanja NSW 2550  -  Australia