If Le Havre (Seine-Maritime) and Sydney are separated by more than 17,000 kilometers, this does not prevent the ocean city from being the French capital of “Australia now France 2021”, the seduction operation carried out in France by the Australian government. He even decided for the occasion to send his ambassador, Gillian Bird, to inaugurate the event this Saturday, June 5 alongside the mayor of the city, Edouard Philippe.
Called “Australian stopover”, this extensive entertainment program sports, exhibitions, concerts and shows stretched until November with among the highlights a big party in all parts of the city on Saturday June 12, cricket demonstrations on the weekend of the 17th and July 18, exhibitions of ancient or contemporary aboriginal art or the discovery of a herbarium from the southern lands installed at the Hanging Gardens.
A superb exhibition dedicated to Lesueur
So many events that show the attachment of the Le Havre port to the mainland country which has its roots more than 200 years ago. “In 1800, at Bonaparte’s request, a large scientific expedition was organized to discover southern Australia which, at the time, was not yet fully mapped. For this Voyage of discovery to the Southern Territories, which lasted until 1804, two ships were chartered. And on board is a young 21-year-old designer from Le Havre, Charles Alexandre Lesueur ”, details Gabrielle Baglione, the curator of“ The intimacy of a link (1801-2021), a superb exhibition dedicated to this perilous journey which presents more 200 of Lesueur’s drawings and manuscripts selected from the collections of the Muséum du Havre
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Seine-Maritime
Fascinated by the precision of the line of the designer who will keep from his journey the after-effects of a snake bite, Gabrielle Baglione wished to highlight several dimensions of his work. That linked to the biodiversity of the time by comparing it to the current flora and fauna. That in relation to everyday objects that he studies meticulously in his drawings and thanks to which it is possible to recreate them today. Or the one that describes the indigenous populations and their way of life in detail.
“At the time, ethnography did not exist as such. But Lesueur’s curiosity and his ability to put down on paper what he sees form a formidable ensemble that has few equivalents ”, enthuses the curator of this exhibition, completed by several spectacular works by contemporary artists adept at ghosnet, a weaving technique that consists of using fishing nets found on beaches to make three-dimensional works that refer to the marine world. A unique ensemble on a French and European scale.
-“The intimacy of a link (1801-2021)”, from June 5 to November 7, at the Le Havre Museum, Place du Vieux-Marché. Open Tuesday to Sunday, 10 a.m. to noon and 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.
