Une poignée de graines
04.2024
research & editorial
A collaborative essay that challenges us to reconsider our history and our connection to the world. Eulalie Aries, Clément Belaubre, Sarah Delétain, Sarah Garraud, Olga Lesniewski, Rémi Mugnier, and I worked together on this piece, with the generous help of Alain Rodriguez and Vanina Pinter. It was produced for the Exemplaires 2024 biennial, hosted by the ESAD Valence.
Within a secret cave, where time seems to stand still, the fabric of our discourse unfolds, a narrative tapestry where the threads of diverse stories intertwine. Daily gestures, traditions, the transmission of knowledge and values together outline the contours of an imagined community.
In this intermediary space, the epic tales of the first cave artists, far from being an isolated aesthetic quest, engage fundamental questions about how to write and read history.
So,
beauty resides in the most elementary acts of our existence, and bread becomes a symbol of social, political, and economic bonds.
So,
we sing the value of the gestures of those who, with their hands, perpetuate and enrich a common heritage.
So,
a single being sowing seeds embodies hope and the power of individual action because they transform a desolate landscape into a lush forest.
So,
the waves of a nature agitated by human activities confront us with our impact on the living.
So,
voices rise and carry the hopes and dreams of a community. They forge bonds of solidarity and care, highlighting collective strength and resilience in the face of adversity.
An invisible witness to this fresco, Ursula K. Le Guin reflects on the ways of life and interactions that shape the existence of this community.
Like a handful of seeds, these flying sheets carrying a bunch of beautiful ideas try to germinate a new story, drawing lasting lessons from the suspended moment, around values that resonate with those of the "Carrier Bag Theory of Fiction".
