AN EXHIBITION TO DISCOVER THE RESIDENCE

AT THE CROSSROADS – AT LA CROTZ DAUS CHAMINS
Promotion of the Grande Boucle du Parc, Vaque Veire, roaming by 9 Métiers d'Art creators

Project led by IPAMAC, the Périgord-Limousin Regional Natural Park and the Experimental Center for Arts and Crafts of Nontron and Périgord-Limousin.

The exhibition "A la crotz daus chamins / At the crossroads" presented to the public, from March 29 to April 5, 2025, under the market hall of the Nontron Town Hall, the process of research and collective creation in residence, for the creation of artistic sculptures, in connection with Occitan culture , on the itinerant route of the Great Loop of the Périgord-Limousin Regional Natural Park.

Périgord-Limousin boasts a rich history of craftsmanship. It's also a favorite destination for more than 300 craft workshops and businesses that practice their valuable expertise in a resolutely contemporary style.

It is to celebrate this richness, but also to encourage contemporary creation around the Occitan imagination, that in December 2023, the Périgord-Limousin Park, the IPAMAC (Inter-Parcs Massif central) and the Nontron and Périgord-Limousin Experimental Arts and Crafts Centre launched a call for applications for arts and crafts professionals inviting them to participate in an artistic adventure: to collectively create a proposal to enhance the walking route "the Great Loop of the Park, Vaque veire ", Périgord-Limousin and Occitan culture, while reflecting the richness of arts and crafts creation.

Nine craft artists were selected and worked collaboratively for a year in a research and creation residency to develop comprehensive projects. These projects would later be installed along the Grande Boucle du Parc trail. Each stage of the journey was dedicated to an emblematic figure of the Occitan world , allowing the artists to divide the themes according to their own artistic affinities, guided by Jean-François Vignaud of the Institut d'Études Occitanes du Limousin . Park staff presented the chosen sites for the installations, highlighting their specific characteristics (materials, land type, etc.) and their natural environment to ensure respect for the local ecosystem (fauna, flora, geology, etc.). The residency format, coordinated by the team at the Pôle Expérimental Métiers d'Art, fostered interaction between artists, the exchange of ideas, know-how and skills, and the emergence of collaborations or dialogues between works.

• Aline Pillenière, wood sculptor and Olivier Constantine, raw wood cabinetmakers, have chosen to work in pairs and proposed two sculptures with the subjects of Vieille du Puits (Saint-Pierre-de-Frugie) and Les Soufflaculs (Nontron). They combine their know-how and inspiration to offer interactive sculptures made from locally harvested wood.
• The ceramist Maëlle Caborderie has taken on the emblematic figure of Félicie Brouillet – L'aurelha de lebre (Augignac). She wants to develop a wooded and public space in the village with the presence of a monumental ceramic sculpture evoking a theater, a space for telling and retelling stories.
• The ceramist Mellie Branchereau proposes a reinterpretation of the character of Lepinhou (Champniers-Reilhac), as an ecological and contemporary figure, symbolizing recycling, welcoming flora and fauna, the strange and the foreign. His sculpture proposal, made from locally gleaned earth, also brings together the materials used by the other creators in the group.
  The stained glass artist Elodie Schneider has chosen to partner with illustrator Amélie Fontaine to restore stained glass's quality as a narrative medium accessible to all. They will represent the Fadettes pranksters at Rochechouart.
• Tristan Chambaud-Héraud offers the Devil an ambitious and monumental triptych in Saint-Auvent. It shelters the walker in a large circle of sandstone and salt, baked in an anagama kiln, to allow him to meet the devil and his goose that lays the golden eggs in complete tranquility.
• Tom Jablin, a stone sculptor, interprets the Flying Hunt (Saint-Laurent-sur-Gorre) through the lens of the meteorite. He offers a sculpture – sound furniture and allows us to discover the local geological riches by sculpting the heritage rocks from the surrounding quarries.
• Marion Leyssene continues a dialogue, already initiated in her previous creations, with the Metteuse de part and her good fountains (Champagnac-la-Rivière). She imagines a ceramic sculpture – seated, which will allow residents and walkers to recharge their batteries in complete peace. This proposal is also a technical challenge met thanks to the contribution of CRAFT-Limoges.
• Finally, the ceramist Mariette Cousty gives his vision of the Lébérou (on stage 9). This cursed character must run along paths covered in a wolf's skin, passing under 7 bell towers in one night; he frightens passers-by and devours dogs. Mariette revisits the wayside cross in a contemporary and humorous way by covering it with molded dog toys.

The nine craft creators offer a contemporary reinterpretation of Occitan legends, in the light of our current ecological, social, cultural concerns... Their artistic proposals, driven by these common motivations, are the witnesses of a collective adventure in which each was able to contribute to others without denying their own creativity.

The exhibition "A la crotz daus chamins / At the crossroads" looked back at the creative process and the final projects proposed at the Park through drawings, models, tests, photos, etc. It was a unique opportunity, seized by 200 visitors - residents and elected officials of the area - to discover the upcoming sculptures and to talk with their designers... while waiting for the orders for the works and their realizations!