Artist Statement
Exhibition/Tour, La Maison des Métallos (Departure at 94 rue Jean-Pierre Timbaud 75011 Paris, May 20 and 21 2023
Theme Social Experiences Immersion(s)
At the head of the workshop of artists in exile and the company Mabel Octobre, the artistic director Judith Depaule has collected since February 2021 life and exile stories in Belleville, a working-class neighborhood rich from its multiple waves of migration. With her team, she met residents and shopkeepers, artisans and artists, and immigrants. She collected interviews to create an atypical documentary base that reflects the collective memory of the neighborhood.
The witnesses relate their arrival in Belleville, the role they play, their relationship with the neighborhood and their view on its evolution. From the Bisson Street hostel to the birthplace of Edith Piaf, from the Grésillon metalworks to the Chez Alex restaurant: a multitude of little stories making history.
From these fragments that take the form of texts, videos, sounds and photos, Judith Depaule has woven threads of exploration by region of origin of the witness, by time of arrival in Belleville, threads on art or gastronomy … A true sensitive cartography of Belleville, these threads trace a new invisible architecture of the neighborhood that asks only to be revealed during the Sentimental Stroll. With the help of the Dérive application, the public will be led to wander from one story to another and discover a story of exile or a fragment of memory. By chance or by intuition, each person can choose to follow the threads that draw him or her or certain clues in order to venture towards a new story.
To fully enjoy the experience, you need a smartphone with a working compass, a charged battery, Internet access, and headphones.
- Judith Depaule (FR), instigator of the Atelier des artistes en exil.
https://weare-europe.eu/artists-in-exile-a-conversation-with-judith-depaulehttps://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judith_Depaule
La balade sentimentale has received the support of the Office nationale de diffusion artistique (call for proposals Ecran Vivant).