Collectif Reversible. Knit and Meet, 2013

Fashion designer Antonin Gellibert, scenographer Victor Labarthe and photographer-scenographer Juliette Morel who form the Collectif Reversible, are RaumArs A-i-R artists for the summer of 2013. Together with the City of Rauma and its residents they aim to portray and produce a Rauma Story by interviewing locals as they meet over a recycling based knitting session to discuss locality and the art of fishing.

Artists of the Collectif Reversible have been working in a number of European opera houses and among other things they have participated in charity campaign supported by Hermès, a well-known high fashion retailer.

By mixing various handicraft skills provided by traditional trades the Collectif Reversible intends to create a modernized fishing net that depicts an image of Rauma. Familiar ways to catch fish, knitting and bobbin lace are among the techniques, which will be used to make the net, but the stories, which have been gathered through interviews that tell about the city and its meaningful sights, also play a significant role. Stories used in the making will serve as map of the city. The finished artworks will be presented in the Rauma Art Museum yard and the stables during and after the annual Laceweek.The net in itself will be utilized later as a part of the Rauma Story in marketing of the city. OBS, September 2013: The final work “Rauma Map” was permanently hung to the Rauma Tourist Information office.

People are asked to take part in the creation of the art piece by bringing along to the shopping center Potkur their unused fabrics, clothing, furnishing and plain plastic bags. The fabrics will be cut into long strings and then used to knit the net.

Collectif Reversible: ”Knitting provides a chance for people to feel unity, remember, create something new, everyone has the possibility to leave something behind and to tell a little story, which when combined with other told stories forms a bigger, meaningful story. Our fabric takes over areas of entire communities. It grows on the interaction, which it creates.”

World Heritage Site Old Rauma and it’s surrounding has been inspiring artists also to host a series of events around the city. Those of these events that have something to do with fishing for example provide activities such as fishing for sounds, poems, insects…

Rauma Mermaid:

Collective Reversible (Antonin Gellibert, Victor Labarthe and Juliette Morel) has been interviewing Rauma people about fishing in Rauma. The performances, works and the places are connected to the answers. They tell us:

“After one month of RaumArs residency we achieved our aim: collecting a lot of witnesses and enough material to knit huge amount of knitting. It is time now to transform all those things into something... but what? Now during the second month of a residency it's time for public works.

We did another turn in the city, going in every place people told us about: places to fish, places to catch dreams and thanks to their stories we also started to dream. We heard about to catch the Sun, the Wind, some bottles of alcohol, treasures, mermaids, to find old sunk ships and the mysterious porcelain cat cemetery and, why not, to recover someone lost a long time ago.

A lot of ideas came to us and we had the beginning of our story. This is how we decided to start to hunt the Rauma Mermaid. A wonderful being with human legs and a fish head, you can only catch with Rauma lace. She's walking in the Streets revealing dreams, secrets and follies hidden in the city.

The outdoors swimming pool (Maauimala) near Otanlahti bay seems to be a perfect place to fish dreams and other strange things. When the Mermaid is there, a giant hammock looking like a cocoon appears, ready to welcome anyone for a short nap.

The Baltic Sea would be full of sunken treasures, like figurehead necklace shining in the deep waters. Coming closer the seashore, the Mermaid bring to the surface those jewelry to catch some sunshine rays.

The canal and the Kappelinsalmi harbor are very strange areas to go fishing according to a lot of Rauma inhabitants, you won't believe what you can fish overthere! Opening a giant tap taking water directly from Kappelinsalmi, the Mermaid catch into her nets some shoes, bottles of wisky, and even some unwise swimmers.

Hundreds of years ago, the Baltic arrived until the middle of old Rauma. That's why our lost Mermaid installs maritime signs to help ships finding their way in the middle of Rauma.

At last, to find back the memory of people lost a long time ago, the Mermaid put her nets in the ruins of the Old Church.

For each installation took photos to our exhibition at the Rauma Art Museum. With luck and thanks to people’s help, we caught the wonderful Rauma Mermaid!”

The members of Collectif Reversible met each other and formed an art collective while studying in Lyon´s ENSATT – National School of Arts and Theatre. Juliette Morel takes part in projects that bring art to public spaces and conducts art and literature based workshops for all ages. Victor Labarthe has studied philosophy in Nanterra, drawing in Bruxelles and scenography in Lyon. He has worked as a sculptor and scenographer for opera productions such as Les Mamelles de Tiésias in Berlin, Lucia di Lammermoor and Sémélée (both in Bruxelles) in addition to a production in Palais Garnier, national opera house in Paris. Antonin Gellibert studied natural sciences and clothing design before taking up studies in ENSATT, Lyon. He is currently occupied by productions for both theatre and television. In his personal projects he likes to concentrate on material hijacks to manufacture new kinds of garments for performances (inflatable costumes, textile sculptures...).