The Tapis-Porte tapestry « Toute personne 2 – Tissage Métissage« , which joined the collections of contemporary creations of La Cité internationale de la Tapisserie et de l’Art tissé, is an exceptional project both in its dimensions – about 16 square metres – and in the fineness of the weaving along with the technical requirements.
It is made of wool and silk and is more than 8 meters long. It is both a tapestry and a short pile carpet since it provides an opening in the tapestry work with a door portion which will be over 2.8 meters high. It is presented as a real installation. It is covered with multiple writings as if it meant to embody the universal quality of human language.
The whole world of these artists with their artistic intentions can be found on their website.
La Fée des Bois rediscovered The experience of an out of the ordinary reweaving
After a first woven sample of La Fée des Bois, the Workshop continues with the research work initiated by La Cité international de la Tapisserie et de l’Art tissé (http://www.cite-tapisserie.fr/fr/la-cité-internationale-et-son-musée/recherche-et-innovation/retissage-de-tapisseries-anciennes) in order to realize an exhaustive list of all the shades of the composition. This preliminary stage is essential to rediscover the arrangement of the original shades in order to propose a faithful experimental reweaving.The sample of La Fée des Bois is exhibited at the moment at La Cité de la Tapisserie et de l’Art tissé in the section of the exhibition « The Hands of Aubusson ». The weaving is made of wool and silk with a 25 cotton warp density.”
Immersion in an original research work
This novel research work consisted in making the inventory of almost three thousand different assemblies of colours and in their cartography on a study model (image High Definition of the wrong side of the existing tapestry, where the colours are more preserved from fading).
In a second phase, these assemblies of colours must have been dissociated in elementary pure colours, preliminary stage necessary to the dyeing of the wool and the silk colour range.
On the basis of these elements and by continuing our investigation, the range of the different assemblies of colours which compose the original tapestry, could have been reconstituted.
After a minutely detailed drawing of a full-size image of the existing tapestry, we tried to approach the original weaving cartoon, now disappeared.After this long-term research work, which will have to go on and to become more refined all along the weaving, the reweaving finally began. The tapestry is woven with a 25 cotton warp density, like the original tapestry, and using the same techniques as the one used in 1909 by the weavers of the tapestry workshop Croc-Jorrand. The weavers of the Bernet workshop, like their predecessors before them, immerse themselves in the so particular atmosphere of this tapestry La Fée des Bois.
