Trésors d’étoffes provençales - Circulation, fabrication et passion d’indiennes dans les collections du musée du Vieil Aix

Because of its opening to the Mediterranean, the port of Marseille welcomed works from the East very early on. Indiennes, painted, dyed or printed cotton fabrics with decorative floral and animal motifs, arrived in Europe in the 16th century. They know a growing success throughout the seventeenth century, because of their beauty and strength, first in the interior decoration and then in clothing The craze is such that the import and trade of Indians are struck by royal prohibition from 1686, and this until 1759. It is in this context of shortage that the manufacture of Provençal indiennes appears, these becoming little by little a characteristic feature of the local traditional costume. Many cities started producing this fabric, such as Aix-en-Provence from the turn of the 1760's. In 1784, the city had a dozen factories, representing up to a thousand employees, the most important being the Infirmaries factory on the banks of the Arc, on the site of the former bastide of King René. One of the major works, representing a Tree of Life, has been restored especially for the event. The tour will allow visitors to understand the conditions of appearance of a textile that has become iconic in Provence, its techniques and developments, and also to perceive all the legacy today. Having been realized during a residency at Les Olivades, works of the artist Victoire Barbot will bring a contemporary look on these patrimonial collections. This artist, a graduate of the École nationale supérieure des beaux-arts de Paris, has immersed herself in the history of this production in order to appropriate it and deconstruct its techniques, thus proposing a contemporary and personal re-reading. Opening on September 17 at 12pm as part of the European Heritage Days and the fall season of the biennial Une 5ème saison, in the presence of Victoire Barbot. Guided tour of the exhibition on Thursdays at 3pm (reservation required)