The portrait of Marie Le Franc, a Morbihan novelist who died in 1964, now adorns the exterior wall of the gymnasium of the Lorient high school which bears her name. The fresco, 9 m long and 7 high, is installed on a tarpaulin and has been named “Superbloom”.
A symbolic theme
Inaugurated Thursday October 17, 2024, in the presence of the principal Isabelle Léger, the director of the Morbihan Academy Stéphane Caron and elected officials from the city, this fresco is the work of two Lorient artists, Nastasja Duthois and Doriane Rio, in collaboration with two Terminale STSS classes, on the theme of the role of women in our societies. Supported by the European Union, the Region, the City and the high school, this PEAC (artistic and cultural education) project is the result of collective artistic and multidisciplinary work over more than two years. Its corollary, in the high school hall, called “Impressions on tiles” and signed by the same artists, was also presented on Thursday. It is an assembly of earthenware tiles, also decorated with female faces.
“The theme is symbolic, it is a feminine and powerful fresco,” rejoiced the principal. “The fresco combines the familiar faces of our daily lives, which we can recognize in the miniphotos which make up the features of Marie Le Franc, with those in the background, women who have left their mark on History, painted in the ‘spirit of Latin American murals’. Educational work is another part of the project, combining Spanish, English and history, with a reflection on the role of women over the centuries and the role of art in social change. “The choice of the name Superbloom is also symbolic,” specify the artists. “It designates the sudden flowering of wild flowers in the desert, a bit like these women who came one day to the light.”
