The 7th Clermont-Ferrand Textile Biennale explores the theme of play in a creative emulation bringing together fifty artists and designers and 32 nationalities.
FITE, the international festival of extraordinary textiles, is the Clermont-Ferrand textile biennial. An event which opens on July 2 for a festive week around the theme “Play” and which deserves to be known as explained by Thomas Leveugle and Charlotte Croissant, curators of this 7th edition.
Introduce us to FITE. What exactly is it?
“FITE was created to show all the diversity of an element that accompanies us throughout our lives. We live and die in textiles. Anywhere in the world, you only need to travel 40 km to find a new material, a new technique. FITE aims to show the contemporary world through textiles, it is a contemporary art biennial. In even years, the event takes place in Clermont-Ferrand, in odd years in. a partner country next year, it will be Brazil and this year, we have worked with the SESC of Sao Paulo, an important social, economic and cultural service, co-curator of “Play” and which offered us ideas. artists like Alex Flemming, exhibited at the Bargoin museum.”
Clermont Auvergne Opéra in a tone of lightness, in substance or form, in 2024-2025
Textile is not just fabric, it is much broader.
“Yes, we are using the Anglo-Saxon definition of a “flexible solid”. The public will find weaving, knitting, felt, paper, basketry, etc.
n How is FITE organized? There is the festive week from July 2 to 7, our highlight, and we are playing overtime for certain exhibitions until January. This year, there are eighteen including “Play” at the Bargoin museum and two installations at the MARQ “Effractions” and “Love is all – Play! Baby”, an immersive installation taking up the idea of an Olympic swimming pool. There are also workshops, visits, meetings. Our program is 80 pages long! Each time, we reinvent something and liven up the area.”
What will we see in the “Play” exhibition?
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“The idea was to draw a parallel with the Olympic Games and to focus on sport and textiles. Very quickly, we broadened to the notion of games. We explored the links between textiles, games and the impact of Games and play in our society and our ways of behaving We have lots of different textile supports that artists use to convey messages that talk about our society, the contemporary world, the challenges to be faced. gender, the place of social networks in our behavior and the image we have of bodies…”
Behind the scenes of the Play exhibition at the Bargoin museum
There is excitement at the Bargoin museum which will open the “Play” exhibition in a few days. Charlotte Croissant, head of the textile department and her team, multiply the “unboxing” by delicately unpacking the works that come from everywhere and examining each piece carefully. Charlotte Croissant, head of the textiles department (right) and her team, are increasing their “unboxing”. Photo Noa Thévenin
“We photograph the packaging so that we can redo it when the works have to be reshipped. FITE is always very international with this year works coming from the USA, Canada, Brazil, Kazakhstan, Portugal, Germany, etc.”Flying carpet d’Alex Flemming. Photo Noa Thévenin
“Flying carpet” by Alex Flemming, Brazilian artist living in Berlin. “He developed this series after the September 11 attacks, with work around Central Asian kilims and a way of questioning the relationship between East and West.”
Young girl’s kimono from Japan. Photo Noa Thévenin
One of the special features of the FITE is to combine pieces by contemporary artists with the textile heritage collections of the Bargoin Museum, such as this young girl’s kimono from Japan, on the back of which is embroidered the design of “temari” balls.
Wooly Walter by Bas Kosters. Photo Noa Thévenin
At FITE, we also like humor. With the theme of the game, developed this year, it had its place and the FITE had fun being in the offbeat and the absurd. The silhouettes of the Dutchman Bas Kosters, waiting in the study room, will soon find their place in the “Play” exhibition. This jack-of-all-trades stylist explores the idea that we all hide our true face and is interested in the voyeur and the watched.
Appointment. Dance and costume parade, open to all, Tuesday July 2, from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., departing from Milleformes, 23 rue Fontgiève, arrival at the Bargoin museum, Opening of the “Play” exhibition at 6:30 p.m. Program complete FITE by clicking here.
