2023-12-30 16:11:51
Under the glass roof of the first floor of the Transfo, the work Sleeping Pacific (2017) by Annette Messager unfolds majestically. Three black hands, forming a cross, emerge from a large sleeping bag hanging on a white wall. Even though it looks like a king’s cape here, this down reminds Joseph (first name has been changed), 36 years old, that painful time when he slept on the stairs and had to hide his in the early morning so as not to have it stolen. He still uses it as a pillow, even though he has been sleeping in a real bed for two years at the Emmaüs Solidarité emergency accommodation center.
This afternoon, he will act as guide in the “Personal Affairs” exhibition. Arriving in France in 2015, this migrant of Cameroonian origin has been involved in the activities of Transfo since the launch of the first contemporary art exhibition in this place, in October 2022. He participates in all the workshops and does not miss a single moment. cultural visits offered to residents, to the Center Pompidou or to the Lafayette Anticipations Foundation. Trained a few weeks ago by a National Monuments speaker guide, Joseph visibly takes great pleasure in interacting with visitors, whom he respectfully calls his “guests”.
Art, a lever to enhance self-esteem
“We create a different relationship with people, and it is a privilege for me to present the work of great artists. Their message touches me deep in my mind and heart”, he enthuses. A pleasure shared by the visual artist Annette Messager, who has very good memories of the hanging of her works: “Some residents came to see me, asking me what I was doing, if they could help. They were listening. This interested them. It’s important to bring art to people who never see it, who won’t dare enter a gallery or a museum. »
At Transfo, art has nothing superfluous, it becomes a lever to enhance the self-esteem of people in precarious situations, a tool to remobilize them. “By becoming mediators of exhibitions, residents are empowered and their position is reversed: usually, they are told what to do, what is good or bad for them. For once, they’re the ones we’re listening to”underlines Vincent Sabourin, communications, culture and sponsorship manager at the Emmaüs Solidarité association, to which the Transfo depends.
The Transform represents a refuge, a “beginning of an address”
The exhibitions are carefully chosen to address themes that resonate with the history of the people welcomed and with the missions of Emmaus, such as the fight against exclusion. Between her four installations, Annette Messager slipped a discreet tribute to Lucie Coutaz, the co-founder of the movement, who remained in the shadow of Abbé Pierre all her life (but brought back to the fore in the film released in November).
On the ground floor, photographer Nicolas Krief exhibits his photos on solidarity luggage storage, allowing homeless people to secure their administrative files and their meager possessions in closed lockers. Published in the form of a four-page document, a report by journalist Isabelle Rey-Lefebvre provides the testimony of several of them, for whom the Transfo represents a refuge, a “beginning of address”a first step on the path to reintegration.
Photos of solidarity luggage storage are also on display at the Transfo center. Homeless people can store their meager possessions there. / Nicolas Krief / Emmaüs
“It’s a very simple idea, but it fulfills a primordial function of safeguarding the individuality of people”, greets Ana, another mediator of the exhibition. A French teacher, this 58-year-old Spanish woman came as a neighbor. Attracted by the beautiful glass and metal facade dating from the 19th century, she entered Transfo for the first time in October, a bit by chance, and loved the project, which she now supports with a few hours of volunteering per week . She enjoys it “the simplicity of human relationships, the richness of encounters”.
For Lotfi Ouanezar, general director of Emmaüs Solidarité, opening accommodation centers in the city and bringing in people from outside makes it possible to “destigmatize the view of residents who are often the object of fantasies”. Here they are considered in their entirety, with “a history, know-how and talents”.
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Events around the exhibition
The “Personal Affairs” exhibition is held until February 3, 2024 at the Emmaüs-Le Transfo cultural center, 36 rue Jacques-Louvel-Tessier, 75 010 Paris. Free access from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday to Saturday. Until 9 p.m. Thursday. Rens. : 01.77.37.62.97. Facebook : transfo.emmaus.solidarity
Round table around the theme of personal affairs with the psychologist and philosopher Vinciane Despret, the ethnologist Fanny Bocquentin and the photojournalist Nicolas Krief, Tuesday January 18 at 7 p.m. at the Transfo.
Meeting with the artist Annette Messager hosted by art critic Philippe Dagen, Tuesday January 23 at 7 p.m. at Transfo
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