Les ponts de mon village

LES PONTS DE MON VILLAGE

TENDE, FRANCE

JUNE 2021 | 218 PORTRAITS

Tende- Roya Valley - Alps - Italian border

The bridges of my village.

What story do you want to share?

On October 2, 2020, the equivalent of 500 liters per square meter of rain swells the rivers in the Roya Valley and takes with it kilometers of roads, bridges, houses, memories and lives.
Storm Alex has struck.
Leaving a stunned valley on the morning of October 3.
Three days without network, without contact with the outside world. We look each other in the eye and walk for miles on the train tracks asking for news from friends, neighbors and those with whom we have never spoken before. As if the storm in its path had also brought down the walls between the people.
"Are you okay? Not too much damage?"
Compassion in desolation.
Solidarity in the face of adversity

A month later, I go to the media library in the village of Tende.
Estelle, the librarian is there with an always so warm welcome.
A book by JR at the head of the gondola:
“Can art change the world? », Can art change the world?
Nice question. I don't know if he can change the world but probably a world view.
An exchange with Estelle, the village librarian where I put my luggage again. We have shared the same love for over ten years for JR's work.
Messages and causes defended by a printer-gluing artist who touches the heart.
Do you know the Inside Out project?
Inside Out, the title of JR's project speaks to us.
Because it has indeed been returned to the valley and the idea of a project by humans for humans makes sense today.
A desire. And to want in these times of pandemic / post storm / winter season, it is a feeling of heat in the body and in the heart.
It gives the almost vital impetus to move forward.

Who are the people you want to engage in your project?
What do the posters represent to you?
Where will you make your collage?

A project, to project oneself, to project the faces of the inhabitants in the village.
A tribute. A light on what is in front of what is no more.
The big ones, the little ones. Parents, grandparents, children.
Caregivers, traders, workers, farmers, artisans.
One can imagine the large portraits of those who keep this village alive through their presence and their exchanges and therefore in the hope of a reconstruction.
On the bridges, those that have been damaged, those that have to survive, the walls of the station (the only link with Italy today), the hospital, in front of the media library, the village primary school.

DEFEND A CAUSE - THE LIVING OF THE VILLAGES - GREEN VALLEY
Tribute to reconstruction, solidarity, interdependence and resilience of living things.

Physical isolation from the storm, no longer being able to leave the village.
Physical isolation due to the pandemic, no longer being able to come together, no longer being able to meet, no longer being able to kiss, touch each other.

So we wanted to highlight the link in the village.
The social bond, the intergenerational bond, the human bond.
The link that is maintained despite the context.
Everyone's resilience.

After the loss of so many bridges and the exodus which takes with it the hope of a village which is slowly rebuilding itself psychologically and physically. Stone by stone, step by step.

A tribute to the living.
A tribute to the bond.
What connects, those who connect.
A tribute to the bridges of my village.

To those who connect, who bind by what they do and what they are, to cafes, to social structures, to neighbors, parents, children, friends, loves, sisters, brothers, elders , teachers, postmen carrying news, motivated young people, bakers, shopkeepers, caregivers, associations, artists who broadcast dreams.
To smiles, to laughter.

Adapted resilience. On a like a desire for change after such an upheaval. We say to ourselves that perhaps he should consider things differently, do otherwise. Encourage the link between man and nature and preserve the balance at our level.
Responsibility for our daily actions while respecting the living and the generosity of the mountains that surround us.

And a call to a green valley.
The storm is a reminder of climate change. An imbalance with visible consequences from the isolated Roya valley.
Do not forget the causes, nor the consequences.

A desire for balanced weaving, forging the link between man and nature and protecting this very fragile balance today.

Because we don't want the village to become a mirage in the landscape, defending the living in Tende is also saying, we want to stay there but you continue to visit us, to walk in the valley of wonders, to explore the paths of the valley, to discover the local specialties, the know-how as the food knowledge.
Let us continue to meet, to weave, to be.

By train, feet, bike.
Access which limits our footprints and loads to take only the essentials.
Go to meet villages, faces, landscapes.
Let's go !!!

Geraldine and Estelle

A participant pondering

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