Wochenende in Ostfriesland

From Scrap to Art

The latest in a series of temporary exhibitions in Taizé is a presentation of work by Brother Denis: bark collages and birds painted on fabrics.
Previous temporary exhibitions at Taizé included enamel on copper by Brother Pierre Etienne; paintings by Brother Sylvain; paintings and stained-glass by Brother Marc; etchings by Brother Eric; Chinese calligraphy by Brother Lucas; collages and paintings by Brother Ghislain and collages by Brother Stephen.

After fifty years of life as a brother in Taizé and Africa, and a long time practicing architecture, in 2010 Brother Denis joined the new group of brothers who settled in Nairobi, Kenya, in the wake of the international young adult meeting held in that city in 2008.
Architecture was over for him, but the surroundings are beautiful and tall trees around the house offered a new way forward. A giant eucalyptus moults each year and loses square meters of bark doomed to rot on the ground; massive bamboo shoots offer leaves of old gold, and there are also the flamboyants and the acacias.
The idea was to use these treasures for collages on wood, first in small formats called "Burning Bush," "Tree of Life," "Jacob’s Ladder," "Living Water," before moving to a larger scale for the decoration of the chapel where brothers and young visitors meet for prayer.

And then scenes from the Gospel, prototypes of the stations which could become a pilgrimage in the area of the brothers’ house.
There is also a pastoral dimension to this searching. So often young people tell us: "We have no resources," which can be translated as "We can’t do anything." Showing them something can be created with almost nothing, with what is at hand, could be a way to open new possibilities for some of them. During the weeks of meetings that the brothers host, a workshop is thus offered called "From Scrap to Art."

And then of course, there are also the beautiful birds that frolic around the house. We would like to keep track of them and share our amazement with others.









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