Revelations: fine crafts return after three years of absence

The 5th edition of the international biennial of crafts and contemporary creation took place at the ephemeral Grand Palais after three years of absence from June 9 to 12.

Monumental or astonishing works in wood, glass, ceramics, feathers, metal, African know-how and young talents gathered at the Révélations salon, at the ephemeral Grand Palais, in Paris.

“The Show is obviously a marketplace, but it is also a time for sharing and discussion. All the creative profusion it brings has really been missed by professionals,” explained Aude Tahon, president of the show and of the Ateliers d’art de France union, organizer of the event. A true emblem of the event since its creation in 2013, the “banquet” is making a comeback. Deploying in the center of the exhibition, highlighted ten regions of the world, including French Polynesia, Cyprus, Slovakia and Nigeria. Another constant, the scenography, always signed Adrien Gardère, materialized by slatted facades in natural wood.

“Revelations” has chosen this time an entire continent: Africa and its many facets – after Luxembourg (2019), Chile (2017), South Korea (2015) and Norway (2013). Pieces from Morocco (notably the art brassware from Maison Meftah), from Senegal but also from Zambia and South Africa were scattered around the room, like a red thread, both on the banquet and on the stands and as part of the cultural program.

406 exhibitors (including 123 new ones) from 21 countries met with creations created especially for the occasion. Decorative pieces made from various materials (wood, textiles, ceramics, metal, glass, etc.) but also jewellery, basketwork and leather goods adorned the stands.

There were debates, conferences, symposium (training in crafts in France and abroad), in situ auction organized by Piasa, guided tours, children’s workshops, award ceremonies, book signings – a rich program around the event – ​​were offered, supplemented by a tour outside the walls and private parties.

As one of the 10 countries gathered in this showcase of excellence, Morocco highlights 5 national art creators:

– Soumiya Jalal and her precious weavings entitled Lumière, unique pieces patiently made by hand;
– Ghizlane Sahli and her impressive sculpture La Mer(e), Origine du Monde evoking regeneration with its recycled elements entirely wrapped in pure silk;
– Younès Serghini and his Terre collection, a contemporary tribute to this age-old practice of ceramics;
– Hamza Kadiri whose elegant chest of drawers B02 in royal ebony from Laos underlines all the Moroccan know-how and creative power.
– Add the promising duo (Kenza Ben Cherif and Salima Chaoui) with their Kahina table, a fusion between the delicacy of henna and the brutality of cement and steel.

The jewel can be seen as a sculpture in the vision of Jessie BENSIMON

Jessie BENSIMON exhibited at the show on stand D2, for her each piece is unique and considered as a sculpture. She uses different materials: gold, silver, precious stones, ceramics, silk, to obtain the jewels that transform the dream into reality.

Each jewel has a striking and immediate appeal, with an intimacy, a requirement and a quality based on the purity of the forms, the resonance of the colors, the transparency and the vibration of the model. The dynamic of the reflection gracefully imposes a delicious attraction that asserts itself sublime. Detached from conventions, Jessie Bensimon’s jewels dedicate their presence to the whole aspect of seduction to transgression, the accessory reveals its embodied and natural imprint, its unique aesthetic of difference.

Seven years of presence in galleries and exhibitions

— The Art of Matter, Galerie Samagra 2022
— Bijou Galerie Baccarat 2022
— Sophie Gallery…etc. 2019, 2020, 2021
— Gallery Bettina Flament 2020
— Musée de la toile de Jouy, Ateliers d’Art de France 2020
— MAHJ, Textile Exhibition, 2019
— Psyche Gallery, 2018
— Howmadeareyou White Night, Blue Night 2018, Installation
— Icarus, a myth in our image, Verrières le Buisson, 2018
— European Days of Arts and Crafts, 2018
— Art Capital, Grand Palais, 2018
— Parisartistes, Convent of the Recollets, 2017
— European Days of Arts and Crafts, 2017
— Open doors to art 2015
— Guy de Rothschild Center for Art and Culture, 2015
— Festival of the Impressyonists, park of the Château de Grouchy, 2015.

A great training path

— Institute of Art History and Archaeology, Paris IV
— Studio Art Center International, Florence
— National School of Fine Arts in Paris
—Ottawa School of Art
— Jewelry workshops Anne Boline, Payendeh Djahan, Romuald Lamy, etc.

The boundaries between the animal and human worlds are indistinct and fluid

Pam Guhrs-Carr, The Transformation – Archetypal stories of forests, wilderness and violent carnivorous predators attacking young girls occur in many cultures around the world, including Luangwa, Zambia. The psychological theme of the coming of age of girls growing up in society with both darkness and light of the process is represented by the bush and the animals that inhabit it.

I grew up in an African village in a remote Zambian wilderness where subsistence farmers encounter animals such as elephants and lions daily and where my daughters were initiated and home schooled.

A central Kunda story about a young woman attacked by a leopard and then killed by a man with an ax echoes many northern European folk tales like Little Red Riding Hood.

“Pam Guhrs-Carr, speaks in many cultures around the world, including Africa…the boundaries between the animal and human worlds are indistinct and fluid. It’s a traditional African view, but it’s also something very modern that we are only beginning to understand in Western countries. We are not the masters of nature, we are part of it.”

My art reflects multicultural ideas about animals and nature such as:

– porous borders between the human and animal world
transience and change
– terror and sublime joy
– forests and their metaphors of birth and death

Exhibitions & Collections

Public, corporate and national art collections with the work of Pam Guhrs-Carr
Collection of Anglo-American Art from South Africa
National Art Museum of South Africa Johannesburg
South Africa Standard Bank Gallery Collection Johannesburg
South Africa ABSA Bank Collection
Sasol Art Collection of South Africa
SABC South African Art Collection
National Museum of Art of Zambia
Zambia Lechwe Trust National Art Collection
South Africa Gauteng Origins Center Museum Art Collection
Zambia Citi Bank Collection.

Azerbaijan was represented for the first time by Elvin Nabizade

On the 5th edition of Révélations, the international biennale of crafts and creation organized by Ateliers d’Art de France, a phenomenal work by Elvin Nabizade “Day and Night” (Day and Night), took place with the support from the Heydar Aliyev Foundation.

Sculptor Elvin Nabizade said he was honored to participate in the 5th edition of Révélations: “The troubles and difficult events of the current world, as well as the pandemic, have to some extent weakened the inspiration of creative people. I express my deep gratitude to the Heydar Aliyev Foundation and its leaders for their initiative and support, which rekindled my creative spirit and enabled me to participate in such a great Biennale. »

The author said that the “Day and Night” installation has a dual nature, emphasizing that it is interactive and draws attention to one of the most important issues of our time, the fight against pollution of nature and the environment through plastic waste.

See you next year for the 6th edition which will honor Quebec.

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Gabriel MIHAI

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