Emanuela MELONI
Sèvre / Mer
To 18 December
Sèvre / Sea
Launched in 2019 on the initiative of La Villa Pérochon, with the first-year support of Carré Amelot and the Centre Intermonde de La Rochelle, Du Vert aux
voiles is a photographic journey by Sardinian artist Emanuela Meloni along the course of the Sèvre Niortaise, from its source in the Saint-Maixent region to the Atlantic Ocean. The diversity of her landscapes has guided her photographic research in a singular artistic quest imbued with poetry and philosophy.
The first stage of this photographic journey took her up the Atlantic coast, from the salt marshes to the wet marshes at the gateway to the Niort region. In La Rochelle, this first part gave rise to a very fine simultaneous exhibition at the Carré Amelot and the Centre Intermonde. Emanuela Meloni then set down her camera in the Haut-Val-de-Sèvre community of communes to explore the source of the river. Finally, this summer she stopped off in Niort to discover the more urban part of the Sèvre niortaise. All these stages gave rise to encounters with the public and numerous schoolchildren during workshops and tours led by the artist.
I walk my feet and my thoughts, from the ocean coast to the enveloping, motionless tunnels of the marsh, from noise to silence, from azure to green and back again. Emanuela Meloni
Practical info
Biography
Emanuela Meloni was born in Sardinia. After studying Political Science and Philosophy in Italy, she became interested in photography, taking part in various workshops. She turned to photography and film in 2009, working as a set photographer on various documentaries and for the film Dal Profondo by the recently deceased director Valentina Pedicini. Seeking more professional training, she graduated with a Master’s degree from the École Nationale Supé- rieure de la Photographie d’Arles in 2015. That same year, she also came to Niort to take part in the Rencontres de la jeune photographie internationale Artist Residency. Today, she lives and works between France and Italy. Since 2016, Emanuela has taken part in various artistic and educational residency programs between France, Italy and Peru.
Landscape is a recurring theme in her photographic work. She is interested in the perception of landscape, which is always multi-sensory, not just visual. Her aim is to weave a thread between what we experience and what we try to represent and fabricate. In this research, there is a need to find a balance between empty and full spaces: in mental, physical, urban and natural space, in language and in the changing temporality of the image.