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“The Beggarwoman and Lace”
April 26th to August 30th 2009, 14:00 hours to 18:00 hours (14:00 to 19:00 in July and August).

On April 26th 2009, the town of Retournac was harbouring two events :
- A concert in the collegiate church of Saint John the Baptist in Retournac, with Vivaldi’s famous Gloria, the Bach 147 cantata, Jesus, Joy Of Man's Desiring, by the choir “Chant’Aiguilhe”, conducted by Gérard Roche, president of the General council, with mayor and councillor Pierre Astor playing the organ.
- The opening of the exhibition “The beggerwoman’s and the guipure” by Dominique Torrente.

 

 

Many people were gathered in the museum to discover this exhibition which is about a dialogue between antique and contemporary items from the museum collection. In the presence of Pierre Astor, Mayor and General Councillor, Gérard Roche, President of the General Council of Haute-Loire, Bernard Gallot President of the Community of Town councils of the sucs, plus several other mayors, general councillors and  various elected members, Dominique Torrente explained her approach and the attraction that she feels for lace, for a certain know-how, for body-movement, for bodies and texts, and to what she wants to pass on, in her work.

 

Homo Bravo, installation D. Torrente.

 

"Guipure is a type of lace which is found in two varieties: the “Bisette” and the “Gueuse which is a lace with a light netting background and found in great quantity due to its low price .In French, this term also opens a contrasted version. Cheap lace called “Gueuse” also means when applied to a person, destitute, beggarwoman, wench in opposition to the rich, noble or bourgeois who can afford the lace made by the skilled lace-makers. It also happens to be the name given by the Royalists to the young Republic. So, in fact, the words and vocabulary of our heritage of French know-how speak of the complexities of social and economic tensions, and remind us of “sharper” questions than a simple decorative length of  lace. "

 

 

 

 

 

Untitled, enamelled ceramic, D. Torrente, 2008.

 

Exposition to be seen in the museum every day from 14:00 hours to 18:00 hours (19:00hours in July and August).

More information on the exhibition