Blow Firozabad Bangles. An exhibition by François Daireaux

25.10.2017 → 11.02.2018

François Dair­e­aux's Blow Firoza­bad Bangles exhib­i­tion is the result of the artist’s many comings and goings between the glass­mak­ing cities of Firoza­bad in India and Meis­enthal in Moselle (France). Firoza­bad is a work­ing-class city in the north of India whose main activ­ity for several centur­ies has revolved around manu­fac­tur­ing glass and more specific­ally glass brace­lets, or bangles, worn by Indian women. These bangles are manu­fac­tured daily by the millions in the hundreds of glass­works spread through­out the city. Virtu­ally all of the city’s 600,000 resid­ents work in the glass industry with infernal produc­tion rates and in condi­tions that are often extremely harsh.

For two years running, the artist visited the glass­mak­ing city of Firoza­bad, taking pictures, film­ing and carry­ing out the invent­ory of an entire produc­tion which he then relo­cated by export­ing it to the Inter­na­tional Centre for Glass Art (CIAV) in Meis­enthal. A collec­tion of 404 toras – clusters of entwined bangles – was then blown in moulds kept intact by the CIAV after the success­ive clos­ure of many Lorraine glass­works, lead­ing to the Blow Bangles install­a­tion, featur­ing 404 glass ‘imprints’ mouth-blown by Meis­enthal’s glass­blowers. At the mudac the ‘imprints’ are all arranged on a stand around which visit­ors can walk before enter­ing a dark room where the film Firoza­bad is screened.
The project touches on broad issues that are more topical than ever, i.e. the glob­al­isa­tion of mass produc­tion, work­ing condi­tions to produce objects sold at low prices in the West, and the flow of goods and, through them, of cultures. By moving, trans­form­ing and recre­at­ing objects, François Dair­e­aux fosters new exchanges with differ­ent modal­it­ies. He brings together distant cultures that share a glass manu­fac­tur­ing tradi­tion and that are both facing local produc­tion crises, i.e. the clos­ure of French factor­ies due to relo­ca­tion and the inhu­mane work­ing condi­tions of mass glass manu­fac­tur­ing in India. The ‘imprints’ result­ing from the fusion of their respect­ive tech­niques invite the public to reflect on our glob­al­ised life­styles, while the film brings us face-to-face with the stark real­ity of Firoza­bad.
Blow Bangles
Blow Bangles
Blow Bangles