The commission

The Huveaune is a coastal river in East Provence with its source in the Sainte-Baume mountain and flows into the Mediterranean Sea in Marseille. Although it has always allowed the presence of numerous human activities, from agriculture to industry, the Huveaune is nowadays little known and often neglected. Concerned about the valorization of this natural and cultural heritage and in order to strengthen ties between people from the neighborhoods and districts along the river, the association Rives & Cultures commissioned a project to the artists Lucy + Jorge Orta.

The artwork

The artists imagined a path with five sculptures indicating the presence of the Huveaune river across four districts: Saint-Zacharie, Auriol, Aubagne and Marseille. These "five sculptured feminine characters, the Huveaune's fairies, are to be installed along the river, between its source - in the depths of the mountains of Provence - and its mouth.

They are a contemporary interpretation of the river's history, inspired by fairy tales, romantic narratives and legends bound to the valley, stories of spirits, princesses, nymphs, gypsies and mother goddesses carried along by the stream."(Artists' statement of intent) These dreamy or active, melancholic or determined fairies, invest places as local spirits and weave new ties between the past and the present. They invite one to discover the Huveaune through other narratives and to invent new ways of living with the river. Also by referring to the universal cycle of water, Le Chemin des fées (The Path of the fairies) aims at making us aware of environmental issues linked to the future of the river, questioning the issue of water management here and elsewhere.

Lucy Orta & Jorge Orta

Lucy Orta was born in Great Britain in 1966. Jorge Orta was born in Argentina in 1953. They live and work in Paris, Marne-la-Vallée and London.

www.studio-orta.com