Pays’Âges

Sept-Îles tapestry-testimony
47° 35’ 06’’ N - 2° 55’ 56’’ W

Baden, Brittany
View from 21/05/2022 at 12:30 pm
Scale 1/1000

Pays'Âges reveals the identity of evolving territories as seen from the sky (rising waters, human footprint, disappearance of biodiversity, ...).

Through this collective, local and itinerant project, artist-designer Dorian Étienne is creating a collection of large-scale testimonial tapestries in volume. They present the singularities of the region studied, its topography and biodiversity. They are made on site with 100% local and natural materials. These monumental artworks testify to a “state of place” at this crucial moment of ecological disruption.

Pays’Âges is above all a participatory project: the inhabitants are invited to learn alongside the artist the techniques of plant dyeing and tufting, then to participate weekly in the highlighting of their territory by the realization of the artwork.

This project takes up a major social issue by weaving links between residents of the same locality over the three-month residency on site, while enabling them to understand the place they live in a different way. It also offers a space for creation, sharing and collective transmission, where each stage is carried out jointly. Within local intergenerational teams, it uses art to initiate a deep reflection on the future of the region by forging an intimate relationship with the living and the land.

Each tapestry-testimony will be reproduced thirty years later. Presented in diptychs, the ensembles will bear witness to the evolution of the territories as well as to the ecological and societal issues at stake. Prior to this, the tapestries are accompanied by thirty-year projections of the sites represented. These scenarios are developed by analysing local data, with the support of researchers and specialist organisations.

The Pays’Âges collection continues to develop year on year, supporting the work of local organisations in their mission to protect and enhance the environment, biodiversity and landscapes.

Mondes Nouveaux laureate by the French Ministry of Culture (Paris 2022)
Grand Prix Photography & Sustainability by Eyes on Talents (Paris 2023)
Open Design Challenge winner by I.D.C. (Bombay 2024)
Citizen-Driven Design Award winner by Distributed Design (Barcelona 2024)

Pays’Âges exhibitions at Beauport Abbey (2023 and 2024), Saint-Maurice Abbey (2023), Beaux-Arts de Paris (2023), French Fashion Institute (2024), Mont Saint-Michel Tourist Centre (2024), Espace Landowski (2024), Chaillioux Art Centre (2024) and Saint-Étienne International Design Biennal (2025).

Residency in the Kerplouz high school chapel (Auray)
28 committed residents
1172 hours of work including 746 hours of tufting
23kg of local wool = 77km of yarn
20 colored shades of Breton dye plants

Wool from the Monts d'Arrée, Breton-Norman linen, local dye plants (dyer's knotweed, madder, reseda, chestnut tree, rhubarb, ...), natural latex

Dimensions : 3950 x 2400 x 80 mm

Photo credits : Dorian Étienne