An exhibition in Brittany to explore the island, real and imaginary worlds

It all starts in a telluric crash: the violent meeting between molten lava and freezing water from abyssal depths. And from these first images, the visitor is overwhelmed by a wave of emotions. Presented at the Abbey of Daoulas (Finistère) until November 30, the exhibition “Ile {s}” is not content to retrace the geological emergence of these confetti of earth, it invites to plunge into the rich diversity of their imaginations, uses and symbolic.

“The idea came to us to question the multiple relationships that we have with these worlds surrounded by water,” explain the exhibition commissioners, Édith Joseph and Marion Trannoy. Shelters or prisons, paradise or underworld, real or fantasized places: the islands crystallize often contradictory projections. The course deconstructs these paradoxical visions by replacing them in their historical, political, economic, societal and environmental context.

Through nearly 350 objects and documents – cards, artefacts, songs, extracts from films or sound testimonies -, “island {s}” sketches a moving map of insularity. From the Pacific to the Atlantic, from the Indian Ocean to the Mediterranean – without forgetting of course Brittany, honored -, the exhibition embraces a diversity of stories without trying to unify them. Refuge for pirates, shelter for migrants, haven for fishermen, Eden for tourists, sanctuary for fauna and flora, the island has a thousand faces and a thousand uses. From the spiritual island of Mont-Saint-Michel to the fatal rock of Sainte-Hélène where Napoleon died in exile … So many experiences to discover.

Immersive odyssey

Freely inspired by an exhibition presented at the Corsica Museum, in Corte, in 2015, this Breton version managed to reconcile local anchoring – with a focus on the Ponant islands – and openness to the world. Immersive, the scenography supports a demanding remarks without ever losing the thread of its island crossing, mixing poetry, pedagogy and playful stops. In these times of withdrawal identity and climatic uncertainty, “island {s}” touches just, by giving to see, to hear, but above all to think. Interior journey as much as speaking through ages and places, this is an exhibition that opens up new horizons!