Nine contemporary artists have been invited by the western French city of Nantes to exhibit in various monuments and spaces in the city with their art works revolving around the theme of the Earth, Earth as in Gaia, a living breathing entity. Every summer the port city’s tourism office,  Le Voyage à Nantes (A Journey to Nantes), hosts the show for the summer season in spaces accessible to the public in an urban setting. Nantes, a port on the Loire River, has been a land of trade and exchanges since Antiquity. Sitting on the mighty Loire it is only 30 miles from the Atlantic Ocean. Home to the Dukes of Brittany in the 15th century, it has consistently been regarded as a Green Capital with its excellent public transport system and green spaces spanning some 8,320 acres throughout the city, harbouring an exemplary array of biodiversity. And it fully embraces all of the Earth’s elements. This year’s summer show is the first part of a four-year cycle, Earth, Water, Air and Fire, Nantes, the city of Elements, initiated by A Voyage to Nantes.

The city is not lacking in spectacular settings like the crypt of the 15th century Cathedral of Saint Peter and Saint Paul where the video work of Anne-Charlotte Finel plays out, notably a video of Harris’s hawks — birds of prey that hunt in groups of two to six individuals — in action at the airport of Nantes. The work, entitled Atlantic, 2026, was produced especially for the Voyage à Nantes art event. The moats of the 15th century castle of the Dukes of Brittany serve as the backdrop for an installation work by Louis Guillaume that  revolves around the date palm tree. Meanwhile Barbara Schroeder with her Les Mistériennes offers up a tribute to the diversity of the Extraordinary Garden in an abandoned granite quarry that now has become a luxurious urban garden.  The installation work uses leaves and seeds that she collected with the gardeners of the city of Nantes. 

Le Voyage à Nantes -A Journey to Nantes – The Earth is running until September 6th. Parallel to A Journey to Nantes art show, the HAB Galerie is hosting a group show with works revolving around the theme of the Earth until September 27th and the Castle of the Dukes of Brittany is hosting a show with art work linked to France’s colonial history and its participation in the slave trade running until November 8th. Nantes was the largest port in France in the 17th century and during the 18th century became a major port for the French Atlantic slave trade. The region of Nantes is famous for one of France’s celebrated wines, the white and dry Muscadet, a favourite with oyster lovers, and this year a Muscadet has been created in honour of the festival, « le Muscadet du Voyage ».  For the full program go to: https://www.levoyageanantes.fr/en/

©Trish Valicenti for The Gourmet Gazette