Pays’Âges

48° 46’ 54’’ N - 3° 01’ 04’’ W

Point of Guilben tapestry-testimony

Paimpol, Brittany
View from 12/07/2022 at 9:40 am
Scale 1/1000

Pays'Âges reveals the identity of endangered territories (rising waters, human footprint, disappearance of biodiversity, ...) from an unusual artistic angle : from the sky.

Through this collective, local and itinerant project, artist-designer Dorian Étienne is creating a collection of large-scale testimonial tapestries in volume. They present the singularities of the region studied, its topography and biodiversity. They are made on site with 100% local and natural materials. These monumental artworks testify to a “state of place” at this crucial moment of ecological disruption.

Pays’Âges is above all a participatory project: the inhabitants are invited to learn with the artist the techniques of plant dyeing and tufting, then to participate daily in the highlighting of their territory by the realization of the artwork.

These creations will be reproduced a few decades later. Exhibited alongside the first ones, the diptychs will artistically testify to the evolution of the region as well as to the ecological and societal issues at stake.

Before that, each tapestry-testimony is accompanied by a large-format print of the territory, projected in 50 years. This scenario is realized through the analysis of local evolution data, with the support of researchers and specialized organizations.

The Pays'Âges collection, growing year after year, will support the work of local structures in their mission of protection and enhancement of the environment, biodiversity and landscapes.

Mondes Nouveaux laureate (Paris, 2022)

Pays’Âges travelling exhibition at Beauport Abbey, Saint-Maurice Abbey and the Beaux-Arts de Paris (France, 2023)

Award

Residency at Beauport Abbey (Paimpol)
25 local participants
1088 hours of work including 683 hours of tufting
20kg of local wool (Monts d'Arrée) = 70km of yarn
18 colored shades of Breton dye plants

Wool from the Monts d'Arrée, Breton-Norman linen, local dye plants (dyer's knotweed, madder, reseda, chestnut tree, rhubarb, ...), natural latex

Dimensions : 3950 x 2400 x 80 mm

Photo credits : Dorian Étienne