Mikes Poppe performs

Wash your dirty money here. Lavez vorte argent sale ici. Waschen Sie Ihr Schwarzgeld hier (2023)

I lie down in a mini dumper.

I'm being driven around the medieval village of Saint-Cirq-Lapopie.

I'm covered in garbage bags and bars of sunlight soap.

I hold a donation box in my hand.

Using a megaphone, I call out:

“Wash your dirty money here,

Lavez votre argent sale ici,

Waschen Sie Ihr Schwarzgeld hier.”

This action is repeated for an undetermined period of time.

Camping et stationnement de véhicules aménagés interdit  (2023)

T-shirts

Last year, Elias Cafmeyer, displayed ‘Camping et stationnement de véhicules aménagés interdits’ (2022) a contemporary interpretation of a surrealistic “objet-trouvée”: a white van has become completely useless by the presence of a brick wall. Elias Cafmeyer made this work during his last stop after an Odyssey through Europe. This van was his refuge for several months. As a reaction to severe regulation on tourism in the Lot region, Cafmeyer treated his own van as if it were an empty building in an urban environment where the owner tries to keep squatters out. 

In the current edition, Elias unveiled a creation in parallel with his preceding installation, Camping et stationnement de véhicules aménagés interdits (2022). Amidst the background of his mobile atelier, t-shirts are displayed depicting on one side an image captured by Regan Elena, echoing his former work.  On the reverse, a poetic composition penned by Siham Mehaimzi finds its dwelling – The circle completes, an enigmatic embrace of beginnings and ends.

Portraits of Andre Breton (2023)

50 masks in paper & carton

Carlos Aires is in the process of crafting a video creation for next year's exhibition titled

‘The Last Interview with André Breton'

In September 2021, Carlos Aires orchestrated a unique séance within the very house of André Breton in Saint Cirq Lapopie. His intention was to initiate a series of unconventional posthumous interviews with this influential icon. This marked the inception of a research journey, which seeks to engage with, reflect upon, and challenge the enduring legacy that surrealism has bequeathed to new generations. This compelling work is slated for presentation in 2024 ,  aligning with the centenary celebration of the Surrealist Manifesto.

In a playful intervention this year, Aires ingeniously recreated the renowned 'Portrait of André Breton' masks, as captured by Man Ray in 1930. During the Parade event, he will share his creation with the audience by exhibiting 50 unique self-made masks.

Nicolas Bourthoumieux presents the sculpture Untitled (2023)

metal & crystal

Bourthoumieux is currently working on a project for next year's exhibition, which encompasses writing, video, photography, and sculpture. This project delves into the intriguing story of Michael Collins, the third astronaut of the Apollo 11 mission, the one who did not set foot on the Moon. Intertwining  with the discovery of a fossilized child's footprint in the Pech Merle cave, located just a few kilometers from St Cirq. This captivating cave is adorned with prehistoric paintings that hold a particular fascination.
The outcome of this year's residency is a sculpture crafted from a crystal found in one of the caves within the vicinity of Saint Cirq Lapopie.

This sculpture ‘Untitled’ (2023) stands adjacent to his former artwork, which was exhibited last year during the public event titled 'Un autoportrait à la chaussette trouée' (2022). The previous piece was buried in the garden of Maison Routier.

Nienke Baeckelandt presents her installation, Tasteless III (2023)

Baekelandt explores the boundary between the solid and liquid state of objects. To do so, she uses glass, ice and epoxy, among other materials. The transparency creates an alienating image: objects are stripped of their meaning and become invisible in space and time. By ‘melting and solidifying’ banal objects such as plates, forks, knives but also luxury products, she questions both our society and our place as individuals in it.

Afternoon Quote #2 (2023)

embroidered textile

At the center of the Radicale 1924 project stands the presence of a life-long connected resident with the village from her childhood.

From an interview we made in April 2022, one such quote is displayed here. The power of her words resonates with the artist’s research into the place of love in our society, undermined by inequalities (social, racial and gender) and structures of domination at work at any political scale.

This quote, already present at the 2022 edition of Parade in the form of a short video, has become the common thread of an ongoing research and creation for the 2024 event, of which the textile piece here is a reduced-scale sketch/experiment.

Guillaume Bijl presents Ensor in Oostende (2000)

Rediscovering History: Guillaume Bijl's Captivating Homage to James Ensor

“As a young Belgian artist, I was already greatly intrigued by the artwork of James Ensor. I was also confronted with several documentary films about him at an early stage, which were shown in the museum of Ostend. As an extension of my series of fictive 'cultural tourism' installations, I created a 'fictitious' documentary about James Ensor in the year 2000.
On one hand, this film serves as a historical 'trompe l'oeil', delving into the myth; on the other hand, it represents an imaginary 'homage' from one artist to another. » Guillaume Bijl, 2004

Jack Davey presents Dirty Room (2023)

Working primarily as a sculptor engaged with textiles, Davey has explored digital media. sound and collage as part of his larger installations.Through his work, Jack attempts to capture energies and emotions within a solid structure and asks how one might imbue those qualities into an inanimate object.

This is investigated through material experimentation, theoretical research and themes such as sexual frustration and desire, anger, behaviour, human anatomy, the subconscious, memory and hidden messages. Fundamentally, Jack aims to dissect, analyse and re-build these elements to create a  sculptural language. A consciousness held within an object.

During his residency in Ticino, Switzerland (May 2022), Jack embarked on creating a collection entirely fashioned from parcel paper. This endeavor culminated in two interactive, full-scale installations aptly named 'Dirty Room'. These installations were complemented by drawings, painted collages, and video.
In Saint Cirq Lapopie, Jack is extending this concept, fashioning an entire body of work exclusively from parcel paper. This artistic endeavor unfolds within an ancient cobblestone house, supplemented by drawings and sound elements.

For the third edition of Parade, Ria Pacquée performed BRRRRRRton (2023)

‘Moi’, was the poem by Ria Pacquée presented in 2021, introducing  herself to the village, signaling the character and tastes of the artist. This year, the artist tells a story about Breton in her performance. Pacquée’s words draw from the life and writing relative to Breton while her voice attributes new meaning through unique cadence and anaphora.

Comfort II (2023)

automatic painting with golden oil paint on paper

Simona Stoia, invited last year to Saint-Cirq-Lapopie remembers the village’s vivid light and presents Comfort II (2023). This  automatic drawing with a nod to the ongoing 'Surrealism and Alchemy' exhibition at Maison André Breton. Like a spiritual journey, this work channels that essence. Gold, an alchemical metal, transforms - glowing under direct light, yet casting intriguing shadows in its absence or from another angle. This piece thrives solely on direct illumination and the viewer's perspective.

intervention in a private garden of the village with a public view

9 minutes 43 seconds

Hantrax has composed a contemporary round dance, drawing from 18th-century classical music traditions. This choreographic piece is a seamless loop, perpetually cycling and lasting precisely 9 minutes and 43 seconds. Participants embark on a sensorial journey, guided by Coach Hantrax's instructions. This dance, an abstract polonaise, transcends convention to engage the physical and imaginative realms in harmonious play.

Simon Masschelein presents Spring Branch Lathe (2023)

Masschelein’s poetic creations emerge from the fusion of joints. Cold and warm materials intertwine, a choreography of stacked and balanced exercises. (Hans Theys)

In anticipation of the upcoming public event, Simon has fashioned a lathe that he will personally manipulate during the occasion. This symbolic gesture draws a poignant parallel to the vanishing craftsmanship within the village of Saint-Cirq-Lapopie. Masschelein’s  work melds material and mechanism, granting vivacity to objects, inviting them to breathe within spaces —an homage to mechanics' unspoken eloquence.

From medieval echoes springs innovation: a spring-pull lathe, mirroring the tension of a bow, conjuring perfection from wood. Nature's touch manifests as a local tree near the Maison Andre Breton, a bent branch’s tension woven into his craft—a kinetic collaboration of nature and the machine’s very essence. A nut from the tree is shaken to the ground and further enriches the tale. Masschelein's artistry, a fusion of memory and innovation, nature and craft, resonates with whispers of a village's heritage.

Yi Zhang presents Through gaze (2023)

What has transformed the view from this window? Curtains act as the veils that carve private and public space. The curtain becomes a palimpsest of stories whispered by hair's delicate threads. An enigma of access—us and others, who treads close, who is allowed to touch our hair ? The curtain was crafted in 2023 in Xuchang, a  Chinese city famous for making wigs. Zhang worked for 20 days in a wig factory, herself, alongside 40 female co-workers or ‘sisters’, as they affectionately called one another. Sister Li in particular was instrumental in the fabrication of this curtain which stretches to the machine’s limits. Seen through a patriarchal lens, the length of hair becomes intertwined with binary and rigid beauty standards. 

Simultaneously, hair, a conduit of mystic traditions across culture. The artist ponders what occurs when her co-workers were putting these magical touches on the hair day in and day out. What kind of spells are in effect ? What witchcraft lingers in each strand ? 

One Shot (2023)

poetry performance

Upon arriving in St. Cirq Lapopie in 2019, Siham embarked on an extensive exploration of surrealist women—their invisibility, objectification, and resistance against the patriarchal gaze. She also delved into the concept of androgyny as a transformative identity for women. This journey led to her initial text publication centered around the androgynous figure, materializing in the collection "Variations Androgynes" (Marsa Ed. 2019). During her Radicale residency in 2021 "l’ob-j’ai" was born.

Covering realms from women's bodies to the earth and concepts, "l’ob-j’ai" unveiled this politics of dominance.

Driven by her role as a psychologist and encounters with Corinne Sombrun's self-induced trance, Siham's quest extended to the psychologist's place and role—both institutionally and independently.

Siham reevaluates these dynamics of domination through a "One Shot" recorded spoken voice. From a smartphone, unaltered and unfiltered, she assumes roles of patient, psychologist, and commentator of her inner thoughts. This artistic approach leaves room for vocal improvisation, intertwined with a seemingly motionless figure in space adorned with a donkey mask—an inquiry into "who am I."

A nod to surrealist women like Unica Zurn, Léonora Carrington, and Nadjma's protagonist resonates—a tribute to their psychiatric hospital stays, their stories narrated through intimate journals. These narrative forms, unrecognized as literature during the surrealist era, now stand acknowledged as genuine literary masterpieces. The evolution of Siham's exploration of dominations continues through performances. It's in the kitchen in the house of Madame Cohen, where she resided for a year that Siham presents her vocal installation titled One Shot (2023).

 The Floating Archive (2022)

video

Created July 14 , 2022 in Saint-Cirq-Lapopie on the occasion of the inauguration of the Nightshop Radicale 1924. The AARS archives, represented by Idris Sevenans and Hans Theys, photocopied the initial copies of the

Cadavre Exquis. First cold press

(An anthology of the work of Hans Theys - established, prefaced, and annotated by Laurence Petrone)

This year, we are proud to present the video 'The Floating Archive' also created on Bastille Day in Saint Cirq Lapopie.

Live intervention by Wim Wauman with Kubb Game, Drawing and Sculpture

Wim Wauman practices the 'flying craft of AirCrafts', creating, writing, telling, and playing in collaboration with artist friends and designers. His work explores 'enchantment and the Spell' visually and narratively, documented through compositions, photos, artworks, and publications. Today, his central narrative revolves around an 'alchemical marriage' (or 'twinning') between 'Saint-Cirq-Lafolie' and 'Rrumpelmonde', a heritage village in Flanders. This is the birthplace of the famous cartographer Gerard Mercator (1512), where window swallows fly around beautiful towers and sundials, and where 'the miller's daughter' of the tide mill houses 'the Melusine'.

His collection of meaningful objects is displayed on a folding table, recounting the story of local heritage and his own artistic journey: his multidisciplinary creation discourse of 'Blauwhaus' ('Blue House'). Based on intuitive resonance, the artist offers alternative perspectives on artistic exploration and develops a contemporary, conceptual, and imaginative myth rich in materials, characters, references, and symbolism.

Propositions for Saint-Cirq-Lapopie (2023)

Operating as an architect, visionary, urbanist (global planner), and artist, his  'Propositions for Saint-Cirq-Lapopie' offers critical, sociological, and ecological alternatives. This project develops the concept of thought-provoking and utopian propositions for the village of Saint Cirq Lapopie.

This year final musical intervention on the highest platform of the village will be presented by Hantrax, Belgian composer and pianist.  His music in spirit is experimental, taking seemingly incompatible influences and mixing them into his self-invented musical language.