TRAVERSEES: CROSSING THE CITY OF POITIERS
A journey through the city
From 12 October 2019 to 19 January 2020, South Korean artist KIMSOOJA will install her work around Poitiers on the occasion of the first edition of Traversées.
A brand new artistic and cultural event with an international component, the Traversées project is inextricably linked with the future of a major landmark, the Palais des ducs d’Aquitaine, and its surrounding district, the heart of the city’s history and heritage. The vibrations of contemporary creation are rippling through Poitiers and, in turn, the city is opening up to the outside world.
For this first edition of Traversées, the City of Poitiers – at the suggestion of Emma Lavigne and Emmanuelle de Montgazon – has invited South Korean artist Kimsooja to install her works at landmarks throughout the city. Kimsooja’s work will be complemented by other artists, of all backgrounds and ages, who have inspired her and with whom she shares a strong affinity. The project will comprise a journey through the city, a “traversée”, creating paths that intersect, join together and split apart.
KIMSOOJA
TO BREATHE, 2013
Site specific installation consisting of diffraction grating film and mirror, dimensions variable. Installation view in The Korean Pavilion, Venice. Courtesy of Kimsooja Studio. © Jaeho Chong
A parallel programme has also been developed alongside cultural actors and stakeholders from the local area. The programme will feature showcase events, meetings and activities held in public spaces and unexpected locations. This inaugural edition will serve as a statement of intent for what will become a regular event, inextricably tied in with the destiny of the Palais des ducs d’Acquitaine and its surrounding area, and aimed at gradually revealing the city and its riches.
From the Théâtre Auditorium de Poitiers to the Sainte-Croix museum, with stop-offs at the Sainte-Radegonde church, the Place du Maréchal Leclerc, the Saint-Louis chapel and Le Confort Moderne, the Traversées / Kimsooja project quite literally traverses the city in a series of kaleidoscopic paths. Sitting at the centre of this non-linear itinerary, the Palais des ducs d’Aquitaine stands as an inspirational beacon at the project’s heart. In this city of disorientating rocky ramparts, the artists are following different directions, forging new paths and changing perspectives. The works serve as an invitation to travel through the heart of the city, thereby echoing Kimsooja’s own philosophy: “Travelling became my reality.”
