generations

"Generations" has been made during the first lockdown due to the Covid-19.
This work was part of a group exhibition in partnership with Casa da Cerca, Almada, Portugal. The on-site exhibition took place at Casa da Cerca in July 2020. A space was created with an armchair to sit and enjoy the Tage river, the research book (transcribed onto this page), the model of my house to look at and the narratives podcasts to listen to (Portuguese). Finally, the visitors could leave with a series of postcards to write to their close ones.

16.03.2020 Flight back from Almada to Toulouse my hometown.
During lockdown period in France, a grand-daughter wants to understand the history of her grandfather, he is 85, she is 23. Through recording and writing, pencils and memory, eyes and ears, two far away generations get the chance to find what resonate and to explore the narrative analysis behind.

This project is a mise-en-scène combining visual, audio and spatial experience. You can look into the window of a small home, three generations, the news-paper and the past-storyteller, listen through the fourth wall and reflect on your own communication architecture with what is around you. During a time filled with worrying realities and hopes I tried to find what is, like on a theater stage, the universal truth of what is singular.

16.03.2020
I arrive from Almada, Portugal. I go straight to the living room which will be my room during the lockdown.

17.03.2020 - 01.04.2020
Two-week quarantine.

01.04.2020 - 06.04.2020
My grandfather and I still only see each other with 2 meters minimum distance.

06.04.2020 - 11.04.2020
After two and a half weeks of lockdown in my room, I have more flexibility in my movements.

11.04.2020
After three weeks of lockdown, my grand father joins us for the meals.

16-04-2020 - 11.05.2020
After a month of lockdown everybody move freely inside the house. It goes like this for almost a month more of complete lockdown.

The following images are part of a series of graphics exploring the differences and ressemblances in my grandfather's life and mine as well as translating visually the stories he was sharing with me. The "Nebula 01 -CD35AE96" compares the mobility we had at different ages. The "Algerian War" cartography tells his journey from the army call for the algerian war he received in his hometown to his arrival in Algeria.

The following pictures are part of a series of portraits of my grandfather. Some depict different moments of his life like his job or his morning routine.

Hereby the postcards for the visitors to write to their close ones.