Installation céramique : Aquam Requiem

Aquam Requiem is designed for the Tithe Barn with a strong scenographic awareness and particular attention to the monumental dimensions of the site. The artists created works specifically for and from this majestic space, revealing a poetic dialogue between the stone walls, the beams of the roof structure, and their artworks.

The scenography not only favours large formats and spacious volumes, but also demonstrates a sensitive concern based on the notion of pagan or sacred ritual through the interplay of horizontality and verticality.

They also wanted to invite a musician, Paul Real, to create a sound work to offer visitors the opportunity to experience a moment of total art so that they could intimately feel the materialization of this heritage space as well as the spiritual dimension of the Tithe Barn.

Aquam Requiem presents a central sculptural ceramic installation that occupies the entire space of the Tithe Barn through a combination with visual and sound installations. The ceramic, sound, graphic, and pictorial creations are developed using a metaphorical and symbolic approach to the various materials that constitute the barn: water, wood, tiles, and pebbles. Water is the unifying element, the common thread running through all the different installations.

From the entrance of the barn with the Rain Sky Installation and from the central ceramic Installation Resurgens, the plastic Installation Corpus Vincianum presents graphic ramifications like water flowing and spreading from the ground onto the wooden slats of the floor to then spread along the pillars to the 8 trusses, wooden triangles supporting the framework, in order to emphasize the writing of the pillars and the framework.

Dominique Stutz and Lucile Travert also offer visitors, through their installations of La Dame Blanche, Tintinnabuli, and Memento mori, a work referencing the legends of Ars and the popular beliefs of Lake Paladru. These three-dimensional, collaborative works are conceived and created from a dreamlike, artistic interpretation of these tales.

The four-hour sound work is meticulously divided into units of time, alternating between silent and musical sequences approximately every ten minutes. In this creation, the musician intended to pay homage to Georges Martin Witkowski, composer, conductor, Director of the Lyon Conservatory, and Mayor of Paladru from 1919 to 1943.

A sculptor of sound—this is the best way to describe the artistic work of Paul Real, who places his sound creations at the crossroads of technology, music, and art. His priority is to ensure that the sounds he produces become one with the space, the location, and the artistic stakes. For this project, he has composed moving soundscapes that harmonize with both the perception and the memory of the unique setting of the Grange Dîmière.

Aquam Requiem presents four artists, each working with their preferred materials, but all united by a shared vision: a fierce desire to create works with a sensitive, even sensory, approach to the Grange Dîmière. This was made possible by their repeated visits throughout the previous year as part of the exhibition's development. They came to scout the site, make recordings, and take numerous measurements to achieve the greatest possible symbiosis with this remarkable place. The result is a unique and original exploration of the interplay between the past and the contemporary world.

From May 1st to November 1st, 2026, according to the following schedule:
In May, June, September, October and November 1st, Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays from 14pm to 18pm (exceptional opening on May 15th);
In July/August, every day except Tuesday, from 14pm to 18pm.

Free access.

From Grenoble A 48, direction Lyon, exit Rives, then D 520 to Oyeu and D17 to Le Pin.