This exhibition offers a dive, in photos, objects and testimonies, into the world of “balls” as experienced in Provence, from the 60s to the 80s, by the German photographer and reporter based near Gordes.
It was in the 1960s that Hans Silvester arrived in Provence where he discovered the capital of pétanque in the villages of the Luberon. More than just a game, pétanque is a meeting place. The most informed players are captured by the sharp eye of Hans Silvester who knows how to freeze these suspended moments. The less expert come together as spectators and transform this simple game into an unmissable meeting place.
“This game is an essential element of Provençal culture. I am convinced that it is a moment where philosophy, fantasy and poetry come together…”
The exhibition presents a selection of around sixty modern silver prints of photographs taken by Hans Silvester in the 1970s, mainly in Vaucluse and Bouches-du-Rhône, on the practice of pétanque and the Provençal game.
In addition to Hans Silvester’s photographs, which are of great aesthetic, documentary and ethnographic quality, the Museon Arlaten will present the results of its ethnological survey-collection work among current sportsmen and players of pétanque and Provençal games. A children’s course is also offered, accompanied by a games bag.
The exhibition will be presented in the chapel of the Museon Arlaten: a monumental architectural site. Objects will be loaned by the National Sports Museum, the MuCem, the Marseille History Museum, the Alpilles Museum, the Aiguines Woodturning Museum, the Municipal Archives of Arles as well as by Hans Silvester himself.
>Infos : www.museonarlaten.fr
