Behind the job, Patrick Guillot is patient. By his side are his wife, Marie, and their son Luc. In the end, it’s just one more wait for these weavers, used to working for months before finally seeing their work. This end of the trade is not a first for this craftsman who has been handling the know-how of the bass-warp for decades but “every time, it’s the same. It does the same thing”. The man remains reserved. There is undoubtedly always a little anxiety before seeing the work finally fall out of business. Finally see the result of a long process: eleven months in this case for this tapestry of 23 m2.
Miyazaki in Aubusson (Creuse): another eight months of work for weavers (June 2021)
For her son, Luc, the wait is tinged with excitement. It was on this work that he discovered the trade, handled the flutes, passed and ironed the threads for the first time: “I learned everything about it”, confides the one who is doing his apprenticeship in the Cité. Not anxious, no, “rather excited. We worked on it for a long time. It’s been a while since we finished. We are in a hurry to see the result”.
Marie, she rather savors this moment: “Miyazaki is a great director for me. By weaving this tapestry taken from one of his films, we entered his imagination. And all that is so good for Aubusson”. “Yes, what is important is this project for the City and for Aubusson, continues her husband. It’s not for us. This contributes to the recognition of know-how throughout the world. »
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A fall of profession in the presence of the Japanese ambassador
The wait will last a little longer. On the second floor of the City of Tapestry, Friday, there were people in the workshop where the weavers worked for almost a year. Photographers and cameras have arrived for some from Japan, such as the NHK channel, which has already come several times to follow this work. Personalities, from the city, the department, the region… but above all Junichi Ihara, the Japanese ambassador to France.
For a good half hour, everyone willingly sacrifices tradition: cutting the threads that will free the tapestry from the loom. The ambassador will also have the honor of the first and the last chisel.
As an aside, Valérie Simonet, the president of the Cité, explains to him a little the underside of the trade precisely: the principle of weaving upside down, the fact that everyone, craftsmen included, will finally discover the work at the same time finished.
After Tolkien, the City of Tapestry (Creuse) will weave Miyazaki (October 2020)
It will be a few minutes later in the auditorium of the City, two floors below.
In a crowded auditorium, Ashitaka relieves his demonic woundtaken from Princess Mononoke, is then unveiled… And the applause that greets her testifies that the expectation is fulfilled. The monumental work is simply dazzling and beautifully modern. Behind the colors, it is all the symbolism of Miyazaki’s work that shines: “This work symbolizes the purity lost in contact with men. More broadly, Hayao Miyazaki addresses the ecology and complexity of human beings”, emphasizes Valérie Simonet.
Symbolism that resonates strangely with current events. The Japanese ambassador, who had already come to Creuse last summer, has not forgotten this. The one who first expressed his “great pleasure to be able to contemplate the first fruit of this wonderful Franco-Japanese collaboration, this unprecedented alliance between contemporary Japanese animation and the technique of a 600-year-old know-how”. , who has been “a fan of Miyazaki anime for fifty years already” insisted on the incredible modernity of the Japanese director.
“His universe alludes to the fundamental questions of today’s world: reconciliation with nature, the limits of our civilization, the excesses of materialism. Nature must resist war, pollution, materialism, it is often alone but in the end it resists much more than one would have thought. We feel in Miyazaki the reader of Saint-Exupéry that he is when he realizes the harmful consequences of technological advances. Miyazaki’s work carries a message of peace and reconciliation. »
Junichi Ihara (Japanese Ambassador to France)
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A thought that Hubert Védrine, the former Minister of Foreign Affairs, a heartfelt Creusois and an ardent admirer of Miyazaki, no doubt also had …
In Creuse, Miyazaki brings a breath of fresh air to the Aubusson tapestry
In front of the tapestry, Patrick Guillot almost smiles. Remained in the shadows since the unveiling, with his wife and son, he modestly savors the moment. No doubt they are moved but hardly show it: “Yes, it corresponds perfectly to what we wanted to do. But we don’t really discover it today: we knew…”, smiles the weaver. Relieved anyway.
To the City. This first tapestry of the Miyazaki tapestry will be visible for at least the whole month of April in the Espace Miyazaki at the Cité. The second, taken from Spirited Away, is being woven at the Manufacture Four: its end of the loom is announced for the end of the year. Finally, the third, taken from Howl’s Moving Castlewill be awarded tomorrow for a trade fall expected in the spring of 2023. Two other tapestries will finalize this hanging.
Text: Séverine Perrier
Photos : Bruno Barlier
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