Les Objets d’Elocques
Residency
with Artothèque l’Inventaire

2022-2023

“ Since 2015, l’Inventaire, art library Hauts-de-France has been developing artist residencies in the Chapelle d'Elocques district in Hellemmes, a workers' town built at the beginning of the 20th century. These actions, carried out in conjunction with several local actors, are part of the exchange and participation of residents to give rise to collective projects, factors of cultural openness and better living
together.
In 2020, faced with the major rehabilitation project undertaken at the Chapelle d'Elocques, we wanted to support the transformation of the site through memorial work so that the transformation of the building does not lead to the
disappearance of heritage. After calling on the filmmaker Camille Gallard and the choreographer Sabine Anciant, to report on what is happening in the disrupted daily lives of the residents, we invited
Tim Defleur and Arthur Lenglin, from the aequo.design studio, to continue this work in 2023, approaching it from the angle of the object. The object to remember, to appropriate your new living environment, but also to be attentive to your environment by thinking about the notions of reuse
and recycling. ”

Clotilde Lacroix, L’inventaire director

The first step of the residency consisted of collecting “raw material”. These were objects, tools and consumables abandoned by former inhabitants of the Chapelle district.
of Elocques. These objects were gleaned from the attics and cellars of the homes which were going to be emptied to be renovated by LMH.
Forgotten memories, broken objects or objects that have become obsolete then become the starting point of a new story. They then pass from
waste status to that of raw material.
Thus, these resources full of history were the starting point for the creation of new products, witnesses to the heritage of the Chapelle d’Elocques.

One of the objectives of the residency was to transmit a meaningful approach: re-inventing new objects from old ones. This principle of reuse, also called “upcycling”, is both an ecological process of creation and an opportunity to reflect on the use of the object. Thus, creators give birth to personal objects with emotional value and a function specific to each person.
The approach makes participants aware of the value of objects and develops their creative sense.

The challenge of this residence is also to “do things together” and with everyone. The workshops are aimed at all residents of the Chapel. From kindergarten children to retired residents, everyone is invited to use their imagination to compose with the objects collected.
A cyanotype workshop was carried out with the children of the Dombrowski nursery school. The children were able to compose faces from waste and make a cyanotype print (ancestor of photography).
A group project with young people from the AKADO center focused on the creation of outdoor and collective furniture. Finally, a series of 6 workshops with neighborhood residents gave birth to a
multitude of new “up-cycled” objects and furniture.

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