Exhibition in Geneva – The MAH kills off-peak hours with “Passe-temps”

After “No need for a drawing”, which ended on June 19, the Geneva Museum of Art and History (MAH) will take an interest in time. An extremely long time, since his big summer exhibition (yes, there will be one this year!) will be called “Ten billion years”. The lifetime of the Sun, if I understood correctly. Note that the star of the day is currently burning the candle at both ends. It only has five billion terrestrial rotations around it before it metamorphoses into a “red giant”. It will be hot at this time. Very hot. Nothing to do with current climate change…

The race of time

Open to the public on July 22, the central exhibition will evoke both quantifiable and quantum time. We will be caught between watchmaking Geneva and that of CERN. Two other parallel presentations have already started. Some sort of satellites. On the first floor, the MAH hosts in its cabinets several series of engravings around “The course of time”. There are the hours of the day, or the age pyramid. Nothing very exciting. So I won’t talk about it. The mezzanine is home to “Passe-temps”. A reflection on the moments that need to be killed, even though advertising begs us all day long to adopt new habits and reflexes that will “save” precious minutes. Life would be for the “ad” a race, which of course has to be won.

“It must be admitted that we often develop futile and repetitive activities, the sole purpose of which seems to be to put us in a trance.”

Alexandre Fiette, curator

At the head of Maison Tavel, Alexandre Fiette is at the origin of “Passe-temps”. “The idea crossed my mind. I took up the notion of a time that should be wasted in order to make it seem shorter. I wanted to bring another perspective to the project.” This is a vision that has become almost heretical. “It must be admitted that we often develop futile and repetitive activities, the sole purpose of which seems to be to put us in a trance. That of forgetting ourselves. Patience leads to no tangible results. The cards end up being shuffled. Ditto for the game of solitaire. “There is of course also petit point tapestry, which continues to be popular. It certainly leads to an object that required a lot of work. But it often seems difficult to me to speak here of an artistic accomplishment.”

Many works presented in the windows of the mezzanine speak to us of forced leisure. “I was very interested in the prison environment, looking for the pieces that would be selected and shown in the exhibition.” Some pieces are thus a means of survival. “I am thinking of the metal goblet engraved by Baron de Trenck, imprisoned according to him unjustly by Frederick II of Prussia in the 18th century. The man spent hours and hours creating sets denouncing his condition. The MAH has a copy of these cups, which have become extremely rare.” There is also, terrible story, the decorated cup of Drancy stretched in 1945 from a train by a survivor of the camps to a person on the platform of the station of Winterthur. The former inmate wanted water. By the time the cup was filled a little too far, and the convoy was off again…

Pin-up and Claude François embroidered

“I thus present a lot of objects linked to History. There are casings embellished by the soldiers of the 1914 war. Works related to confinement collected by the ICRC. Not everything appears so bleak in “Hobby,” however. Just think of the embroideries, some of which have an assumed kitsch nature on loan from individuals. “The route here goes from a tapestry obviously executed by a French amateur from the time of the Valois in the 16th century to current achievements. Some embroideries are made from cardboard drawn by Aslan, known for his pin-ups. There is also a portrait of Claude François.” The exhibition does not intend to make a value judgment. “She is not looking for quality. It is a question of showing here the existence and the permanence of a phenomenon.

“The exhibition does not seek quality. It is a question here of showing the existence and the permanence of a phenomenon.

Alexandre Fiette

“Pastime” also presents games, often linked to randomness. “There are also cards intended for divination, such as tarot cards. There, we leave the litany to enter the bet on the future. One could say, if one believes little in signs, that this is also a question of a consented regression. Especially if the tarots, of Marseilles or not, are seen indefinitely repeated… Can we really redo the future every day?

Ceramics in the fall

For Alexandre Fiette, this is a small exhibition before the larger one scheduled for September at Maison Tavel. “There will then be the International Ceramics Congress in Geneva, which will be held at the Ariana.” Various presentations are envisaged in this context, from the Château de Nyon to the biennial course of Carouge. “We will be showcasing tiles and stove tiles that you never look at. However, I find them very interesting.” Maison Tavel should also reverse its course. The rooms in the basement would accommodate part of the permanent spaces, while the first floor would be reserved for temporary presentations. “We can admit that the restoration of the 1970s, carried out according to the precepts of the time, is today part of the history of the building. We have to accept it.”

Practice

“Passe-temps”, Museum of Art and History (MAH), 2, rue Charles-Galland, Geneva, until August 28. Such. 022 418 26 00, website www.mah.mah.ch Open Tuesday to Sunday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Until 9 p.m. on Thursday.

Posted today at 3:48 p.m.

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