[ EXHIBITION ] ETEL ADNAN
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Last July, the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence presented the world premiere of Samir Odeh Tamimi’s The Arab Apocalypse, an oratorio based on Etel Adnan’s poem with a mise-en-espace by Pierre Audi. This summer, the Musée des Tapisseries, in partnership with Galerie Lelong & Co. and in collaboration with the Festival d’Aix, is paying tribute to Etel Adnan’s oeuvre by offering an exhibition devoted to this poet and visual artist.
The Lebanese-American author, who passed away in November 2021, was an extraordinarily versatile artist, whose roots and nomadic life placed her at the crossroads of cultures, religions and languages — from the Mediterranean Basin to the West. She became an important figure thanks to the diversity of her experimentation and her consistent devotion to certain issues and motifs, including a constant search for depth and expression in simplicity. Her life’s work, which has continuously inspired innumerable artists and admirers, was awarded the 2021 Lichtwark Prize.
Over time, her abstract paintings — which radiate light and sun — and her drawings have become a reference in the world of art. She recreated the myriad landscapes from her life’s travels onto leporellos, which unfold to form long friezes combining abstract forms with texts, watercolours and ink, and thus freeing image and text from their habitual constraints.
Three tapestries woven on a low-warp loom at the Lucas Pinton manufactory in Aubusson, five prints from her The Weight of the World series, and photos by Ruth Walz from the world premiere of The Arab Apocalypse will be on display from 4 June to 18 September 2022 at the Musée des Tapisseries. This museum is located inside the Palais de l’Ancien Archevêché, where many of the world’s greatest opera singers have performed every summer since 1948.
The Cercle Etel Adnan pour la Méditerranée — created in honour of the great artist who recently passed away — gives philanthropists a means to foster intercultural dialogue and promote the distribution of productions related to the history and musical identities of the Mediterranean Basin.
JOIN THE CERCLE ETEL ADNAN POUR LA MÉDITERRANÉE
