Nine months of artist residency in Lavérune

On May 18th, during the European Night of Museums, took place the closing presentation of my 9-month artist residency in Lavérune, a town near Montpellier (France).

I met a teacher and also elected representative from the city of Lavérune during a training day aimed at teachers.

A few weeks after this event, she contacted me to offer me an artist residency combining photography and perfumery in her town.

After a first meeting, we signed a residency contract and I got to work. From September 2023 to April 2024, I crisscrossed the city of Lavérune, and more particularly its waterways and their changing faces depending on the seasons. I particularly photographed La Mosson river, and its bucolic environment.

I really enjoyed seeing the changes according to the seasons that we only grasp superficially during shorter residencies, as it was the case during my one-month residencies in Japan and China.

After these months of wandering, I selected seven photographs of La Mosson river reflecting the world around it, reflections which took me to a dreamy world.

Then I set about recreating the olfactory atmosphere of my walks along the Mosson river captured in these seven shots. After many trials, I finalized the scent called "The Memory of Water" a few days before the closing presentation at the Hofer-Bury Museum.

A short text accompanied it: " Let yourself be lulled by the youthful song of this continuous flow. Dive into this shimmering world. Feed on the olfactory energy of this abundant nature between humidity, greenness and white flowers. "

The photographs, printed in large format, were displayed in the music room of the Château des Evêques where the presentation was to take place. What a satisfaction to see the public surprised to discover the Mosson river as they had never seen it before.

As for the fragrance, made of black sage, juniper berries, patchouli, helichrysum faradifani, narcissus, carnation, peony, wild clematis, white sandalwood, katafray and hinoki, it evokes the scents of water, forest, moss, white flowers and damp earth, which accompanied my many walks along the Mosson River.

It was displayed under a bell jar near the photographs and allowed visitors to have a multi-sensory experience, smelling and looking at the same time.

This nine-month artist residency was very enriching and allowed me to express my visual and olfactory vision of the natural spaces of this town that I only knew by name.

I hope to repeat this experience elsewhere and discover new territories, me the insatiably curious.