Residency at Le Petit Écho de la Mode – Châtelaudren
Several weeks of residency in the former printing house of Le Petit Écho de la Mode magazine, in Châtelaudren. A place steeped in stories, soft-spoken injunctions, and stubborn silences. I delved into these yellowed pages filled with talk of love, cooking, and sewing… but also, between the lines, of marital duties, regulated beauty, and women's lives confined within carefully drawn roles.
From these fragments, creations are taking shape within the space of Le Petit Écho. I do not want to reveal everything here, for these installations are meant to be experienced. Through them, I try to make the whispers of the past heard, to let them resonate in the present. A work of sensitive archaeology, woven between collective memory and intimate emotion.
The installation
This installation features around fifty period dresses arranged like a military regiment, symbolizing the patriarchal society that constrained women. The work refers to the historic action of the MLF (French Women’s Liberation Movement) on 26 August 1970, when nine activists attempted to lay a wreath to “the wife of the Unknown Soldier” in Paris, in honour of the women forgotten by History.
Each dress contains a heart-level pocket with a zipper, revealing “love letters” — personal archives drawn from the women’s magazines of Le Petit Écho de la Mode. The artist uses sewing, a traditional domestic gesture, to create a visual poetry that gives voice to silenced women.
Social Archaeology
The installation functions as a "social archaeology" that exhumes the memory of invisibilized housewives. It questions persistent gender inequalities and stereotypes, while paying tribute to past female struggles. The objective is to create a dialogue on women's equality, by confronting our current society with the norms of the past that continue to influence the present.