[spectre] La Biennale de Momon: meeting with the artists 13.02.2021

[susana mendes silva]

La Biennale de Momon
https://momon.fr <https://momon.fr/>

Participating artists:
Sarah Boulton (GB),
Marc Buchy (FR/BE),
Joan Heemskerk (NL), 
Frans van Lent (NL),
Susana Mendes Silva (PT),
Josh Schwebel (DE/CA), 
Lisa Skuret (US/GB),
Elia Torrecilla (ES)
Martine Viale (CA/FR).

Website: Maya Rettelbach (DE)
video: Steef van Lent (NL)

La Biennale de Momon originated from the village of Maumont in the southwest of France. Maumont, similar to many old villages, has changed significantly over the past few decades. While the site has retained the same physical structure, very little has remained of the original atmosphere: Residents disappeared and strangers took over the vacancies. Agriculture became gardening, physical labor became relaxation.

The contrast between the material continuity and the change in use and atmosphere was a reason to initiate this project. The old (occitan) name of the village, Momon, is not in use anymore. It is the name of a memory. The village is two things at the same time: the immutable and the ephemeral, the stones and the living.

La Biennale de Momon is composed by nine artists: Sarah Boulton, Marc Buchy, Joan Heemskerk, Frans van Lent, Susana Mendes Silva, Josh Schwebel, Lisa Skuret, Elia Torrecilla and Martine Viale. What these artists have in common is a focus on the processes of change rather than on its material deposits.

The original plan was for the artists to each reside and work in Maumont for a time, absorbing the atmosphere, history, and stories. We agreed that after our residencies we would leave the village without a trace and that the project would be presented online only.

The pandemic has radically changed the project. Most participants only know the village from photos and video. The physical reality that had triggered the project, now plays a different role. The pandemic also changed the project conceptually, as it pushed us even more from the physical towards the virtual. Not so much experiencing this as a limitation, we accepted this as a natural event which inevitably influences our choices.
Looking  at what was still there, we imagined how this could lead us to something beautiful. We created a new colony in the virtual world, not based on the village of Maumont, but based on an imaginary Momon.

The domain momon.fr <http://momon.fr/> has became our new location, a new base, the new original.
Designer Maya Rettelbach  has gathered the artists’ work together on neutral terrain, in a place outside the village, in a virtual garden.

La Biennale de Momon is intiated and organised by Frans van Lent. It is the first in a series of two-year projects for the presentation of concept oriented arts.
The project is supported by the municipality of the city of Dordrecht, the Netherlands.


Information:

Please visit the website momon.fr <http://momon.fr/> before you visit our Public Event on Saturday 13 February at Zoom. All artists will be available at Zoom and will be able to talk and to respond to your questions. 
You can see the website on a computer but the nicest way to visit La Biennale de Momon is on your mobile phone

Free Public Event:
on Saturday 13 February, 2021 at 18h:00 GMT/ 19h UTC (+1)
Zoom meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85943152439?pwd=Mjk4VFRRK0grK0hkMVEwMEJHMDY2QT09 <https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85943152439?pwd=Mjk4VFRRK0grK0hkMVEwMEJHMDY2QT09>

Organisation and contact: 
Frans van Lent 
+316 285 999 38
mail at labiennaledemomon.org <mailto:mail at labiennaledemomon.org>.


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