THE EXHIBITION IS ACCOMPANIED BY A MUSICAL SOUNDSCAPE CREATED SPECIFICALLY BY LAURENT PAULRÉ.
Messenger between heaven and earth, the figure of the bird traverses the works on display, at times adorned in the flamboyant colours of tapestry, at others distilled to the fragile and mysterious essence of its feathers. PARADE is an invitation to follow this flight, to let oneself be carried away between luxuriance and strangeness, between jubilation and silence.
The large, bright tapestries of Dom Robert (1907-1997), a leading figure of Aubusson tapestry, display an abundant nature where birds, flowers, and leaves create vibrant, almost musical scenes. In his work, the richness of the colors and the rigor of the design reflect a pantheistic joy and a celebration of the living world.
Like Facteur Cheval, Dom Robert did not appear predestined for artistic recognition. As a Benedictine monk, he discovered in tapestry a medium to glorify nature and the spirit. Facteur Cheval, for his part, a simple postman, constructed a dream palace stone by stone that stands the test of time. Both men created an unexpected legacy, born from a loyalty to an inner world that surpassed convention.
Facing these works, the feather sculptures and bas-reliefs of Kate MccGwire (born 1964 in Norfolk) summon the animal in an entirely different way. Her entanglements of feathers, with their silky, shimmering textures, give shape to enigmatic creatures that are at once seductive and unsettling. Detached from the bird, the feathers become organic matter—flows, spirals, or knots—recalling the body, instinct, and mystery all at once.
Through the patient collection, sorting, and meticulous assembly of feathers, Kate MccGwire’s work shares a dimension of endurance and perseverance with tapestry. Each piece is the fruit of an infinite repetition of gestures, of an extended duration that sculpts the material and transforms it into a vision. This relationship to time, to a quasi-obstinate patience, echoes the work of Facteur Cheval: the tireless repetition of the gesture becomes a creative power, a way to defy the ephemeral and inscribe the dream into matter.
The PARADE exhibition unfolds a rich universe where unusual objects mingle with local curiosities. Among them, one detail surprises and intrigues: why, in 1900, did the emblem of the Hauterives brass band feature two large birds—ostriches? Every summer during Facteur Cheval's lifetime, this band came to play at the Ideal Palace, and several clues remain today testifying to the closeness between the musicians and the builder. Without knowing the precise nature of the ties that united them, one likes to imagine the brass instruments resonating in front of the baroque façades of the Ideal Palace at the very turn of the 20th century, offering the construction-in-progress a singular musical setting.
It is in this spirit that visitors are invited to enter PARADE, allowing themselves to be enveloped by a soundscape designed especially by Laurent Paulré (Radio France). This creation revives both the bird songs dear to Cheval and the festive energy of a village parade, like a dreamed echo of the brass band concerts of yesteryear. Played from an authentic 1900 gramophone, this composition opens the exhibition by blending memory and imagination, breathing life back into a vanished atmosphere while inviting everyone to inhabit it once again.
