Accumulation of Power

A Summer in Le Havre

Le Havre celebrates its 500th anniversary, visual artists, designers, graphic artists, stage directors, novelists, follow in the wake of Niemeyer and Monet to reinterpret this surprising city.

Japanese artist Chiharu Shiota has been invited to invest Auguste Perret’s famous St. Joseph Church: a whirlpool of densely woven red threads irradiates the church's concrete nave. An "Accumulation of power" which, as a black hole, grasps the spiritual powers concentrated in the building.

“A church is a place for spiritual energy even for people who are not religious. In my mind, every person in life has his/her own place of power. The red whirlpool construction embodies an accumulation of spiritual power. In this construction, all ideas, thoughts and prayers of people having been in the church are accumulated, like in a storm." the artist explains.

Artistic director of A Summer in Le Havre : Jean Blaise