The French Presidency of the Council of the European Union started in earnest last week, with the informal meeting of Agriculture ministers in Strasbourg and the visit of European Commissioners to Paris. So, for the moment, no meeting has yet taken place in Brussels in the building of the Council of Ministers, the Juste Lipse, but it has been invested by recognized artists.
The architect-scenographer Adeline Rispal, the videographer Jacques Perconte, as well as six young French artists living in Brussels participated with others in the creation of a scenography to stage these six months of French presidency.
In the immense atrium of Juste Lipse, two wings of 300 square meters each, The Fabric of Europe, a weaving in the colors of the 27 national flags, ribbons that omit many patterns, coats of arms, Greek or Scandinavian crosses. Nicolas Jacquette is a visual artist and co-director of the Irresistible Studio: “ It was a challenge. When we started this project, we did not know if we were followed by the countries. There, we have a common work which has been done with all the countries of the community of the European Union, because of its colors. ”
“Intersection (s)”
After the monumental atrium, the cozy rooms on the 5th floor, intended for interviews with the presidency: the textile designer Jeanne Goutelle used more than six thousand meters of blue, white and red ribbons that we would not suspect that they come from industrial waste. The screens woven from his work, Intersection (s), create privacy:
” You have to imagine a corridor, with, on the right, a wall, and on the left four doors. A dead end corridor, at the end a wall too, and this alcove work was there to soften and takes on its full meaning in places that will be visited by politicians, in sometimes delicate negotiating situations. “
And some will regret that during these six months, the only spectators of this scenography are the ministers and their delegations.