Alès perpetuates its first sculpture symposium and creates an annual event
From June 3 to 30, nine sculptors from France, Italy, Spain and the guest country of honor, Egypt, gathered in Alès for a first sculpture symposium in the city.
Gathered in the Bosquet gardens, each of them worked on a 5-ton block of stone from Cévennes quarries to create a monumental sculpture that the public could see progressing day after day.
At the origin of this project, the sculptor Ali Salem, 80 years old, a sculptor of Egyptian origin who has been living in the Alesian basin for seven years. His project was supported by the Agglomeration of Alès which has already announced that it will renew the operation next year.
All the works created will remain in Alès permanently. Ali Salem hopes to be able to transform one of the public gardens of Alès into a true sculpture museum, as he has seen in other cities, notably Alexandria.
- The symposium was supported by the community, but also by other partners. The Pierre du Midi association, which brings together the region’s cut stone quarries, mobilized the quarries in the Alès basin to provide the stone blocks to the sculptors. And the sculptors were able to work with tools from an Alès company specializing in diamond tools, Diamotec, which supports the artist Ali Salem on his various creations.
-
The Midi stone obtained its geographical indication in October 2023. It was used to build the Nîmes Arena and the Pont du Gard.
-
Ali Salem has notably created monumental sculptures in Grau-du-Roi, Port Camargue, Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, Montpellier, Pézenas, to name just a few regional towns.
Previous articleMeeting with Lydie Questier
