Maria Hanl
...Can you remember the Paris sky? How unreliable, most of the time grey, often warm and damp, never quite perfect, indulging in clouds and shades; rain, breeze and sun sometimes managing to appear together…,” Louise Bourgoise wrote in one of her text works shown in the Galerie Karsten Gréve in early January.
The Cité internationale des arts is located in the centre of Paris, right next to the Seine in a vibrant neighbourhood with numerous restaurants, chic boutiques, delicatessens, bars, galleries and museums. However, an irritatingly high number of people sleep rough, try to keep warm in the outgoing air flow from the metro or take shelter from rain or snow under ledges. According to a count made in the “night of solidarity” in early 2018, there are five thousand homeless people. Macron has not kept his campaign promise to create sufficient places in shelters by the end of 2017 (Neue Zürcher Zeitung, 18 Feb. 2018)
| 1. | My stay in one word: |
| Intensive | |
| 2. | Things I miss since I am no longer there: |
| The interesting and kind people I met during these three months | |
| 3. | Dos & Don'ts at this place?: |
| A lot of artists from all over the world work in the Cité so that there are more than enough opportunities for communicating and making new contacts. It would be a mistake to hole up in the studio... | |
| 4. | Where you can buy great supplies: |
| It depends on what you need... Rogier et Ples, Boesner, Sennelier, flea markets, DIY stores… | |
| 5. | What you should definitely bring with you from home: |
| An international artist ID can be advantageous if you want to go to the Louvre (free entry and no queuing up), my umbrella was a very important companion from January to March and comfortable shoes have proved their worth. | |
| 6. | On art at my residency place: |
| More than enough. | |
| 7. | Around the studio – this is where I go shopping, drink a coffee and get the best lunch specials within walking distance: |
|
I did not develop such routines during my residency… The brioches and croissants aux pistaches from the bakery Au Petit Versailles du Marais were always welcome for the self-organised coffee breaks we had together. And: Shopping in the market (e.g. Bastille) is much more fantastic than in the supermarket.
|
|
| 8. | Where I like to spend the evening (dinner, drinks and best sound): |
| I liked to enjoy a glass of wine with other artists – there is always an open studio or a music session somewhere in the Cité – and decide spontaneously what to do with the rest of the evening… | |
| 9. | What I would have liked to know about the studio already at the start of my residency: |
| I was open for everything and the information I had was absolutely sufficient. The only thing I would have taken along right away would have been my running shoes – I did not imagine that jogging along the Seine would be so good. |
Website resident: mariahanl.com