17. Seventeenth resident, from the 10th of November until the 22nd of December 2013: Dominique A. Noël
Dominique Adriana Noël was an international correspondent, specialised in Africa, for Jeune Afrique for instance (amongst others).
She has been an editorial writer for the Nouvel Observateur, but was as well media adviser at the Saudi Arabia Embassy or international special adviser in communication.
For about 25 years now she has been committed to abandoned children at birth, a real field work, mainly in Marocco.
She fights for the actual enforcement of applicable laws, or the necessary reforms which could help better protecting victims of mental harassment within the family sphere.
Listenning to, supporting those many victims she has met throughout her task brought on the need in her to reveal in a book
unspoken truths which go far beyond the family sphere and that too many of us are ignorant of.
She has taken on, while at HĂ–FN, a first writing phase, already well sustained with years of experience, meetings, documentation and research.
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16. Sixteenth resident, from the 15th until the 30th of July 2013: Jakub SZYDLOWSKI.
Jakub SZYDLOWSKI lives and works in Warsow (Poland). An actor and a singer, he first of all plays in musicals.
He recently throwed himself into directing... with much sucess... a musical.
Staying at HĂ–FN, for Jakub SZYDLOWSKI, did mean a combination of needs and wishes;
a time for holidays after a rather hectic year, a time for discovering France, an immersion into artistic and cultural events in Marseille 2013
BUT also a special moment, a necessary work period:
He actually almost finished while at HÖFN writing the « libretto » for an adaptation of The Trial (Franz Kafka) as a... musical!
2012-2013.....................................................................................................................
15. Fifteenth resident, between September 2012 and May 2013 Thierry Fournier
The visual artist and a curator Thierry Fournier was shelterd at HÖFN while implementing his project: fenêtre augmentée (Augmented window),
during short, (but intense!) residences:
This third fenêtre augmentée installation (after a first one set up at Beaubourg, and another at Prats-de-Mollo (Pyrenees),
exhibits the works of Benjamin Laurent Aman, Marie-Julie Bourgeois, Grégory Chatonsky,
and a group including Christine Breton, Jean Cristofol, Jean-François Robardet and Thierry Fournier.
Dominique Poulain, the cooperative HĂ´tel du Nord, and our association HĂ–FN, accompany this project in different ways,
and thus contribute to this temporo-spatial exploration.
Vernissage of "Augmented window 03 Friday the 10th of Mai 2013 at 7pm
Exhibition : on the ground floor of the Panorama Tower, Friche de la Belle de Mai,
41 rue Jobin, 13003 Marseille
From the 11th of May until the 31st of December 2013 (10am - 07pm / Free entry)
More about the exhibition at News; Augmented Window 03 : Marseille
The 27th of October 2014, a bit late (!), but true to his word, Thierry Fournier sent us his « trace », a -double- sign of his staying at HÖFN and meeting with Marseille :
a text and 4 photos which were taken at various times while scouting and/or shooting for the collective work : Ultima Thulé...
Here, Thierry Fournier's text (almost a letter really), an those 4 pictures...
Höfn has been much more than a residence during the creative process of the work Fenêtre augmentée
(Augmented window) in Marseille : and Dominique Poulain as HĂ–FN coordinator as much as Jean Cristofol
were from one end to the other the link between the project and this town.
I (we) would never have approached it as we did without them.
To begin with during the first scouting period, - searching for the place and the framing of the camera,
striding across Marseille and its rooftops according to their advices, with them, and Jean-François,
Grégory and the Zinc Association's team, discussing all the possible locations, as well as considering
the artists involved in the project. Then during the actual residency period, with Benjamin L. Aman,
Marie-Julie Bourgeois and Jean-François, as we did all all together: make Benjamin L. Aman,
Marie-Julie Bourgeois discover those places, discover others on our own, roam together all over Marseille,
taking photos, shooting, discussing, sharing our points of view... Dominique, (and HĂ–FN), by the way,
had a bridging role (among other occasions) between us and the Coptic community who was going to receive us
when we had to shoot in their church for Ultima Thulé.
Then again, during the actual shooting period of Ultima Thulé, that we conceived and carried out between Jean,
Jean François and I, as Dominique and Christine Breton were constantly backing us : we could then as much walk
and shoot high above town as tie a little stool at the back of the van in order to shoot sitting or standing from it,
door wide open, the Flea Market... all those wanderings made possible thanks to a real knowledge of places and people.
And finally during the private vewing of the installation, and few days later as Benjamin L. Aman, Jean, Jean-François,
J. Emil Sennewald and I were conducting a meeting at La Friche in the presence of the Zinc team, Dominique
and a little group of people curious about the project. Even Jean-Claude Gaudin dropped by at that very moment
but we did not try and keep him.
Consistently, and throughout all those periods, as intense as they were joyful, Höfn, Dominique and Jean
knew how to make us welcome... in a way one seldom experiences ; I will remember the moments we
shared throughout the whole project as the most intense work periods I ever experienced : great moments
for sharing ideas, for endless discussions, plain pleasure and frienship. Not mentionning the actual place,
the residence itself, one of the most conducive to focus on work I ever got, extremely cosy to live in,
but also a well-designed space, perfecly balanced between the inside and the outside.
Here several photos of those moments... and my heartfelt thanks! .
