Research project in Saxe-Anhalt - Germany

Residency: research and recordings in Sachsen-Anhalt, Germany, 2021-2022
Public Art study-project residency / Bauhaus Dessau residency, invited by Regina Sonnabend – I.B.A. and Novalis Foundation, Sachsen-Anhalt, Germany, 2009-2010
Bursaries – Coopération Région Val de Loire Centre and Kunststiftung des Landes.

Cécile Pitois developed an artistic research in Saxony-Anhalt part of a program of cooperation and cultural exchange between the Centre region in France and the Land of Sachsen-Anhalt. In keeping with her approach, Cécile Pitois visited the region on several occasions to research and gather information on this rapidly changing part of eastern Germany. The research projects and one prize-winning project have not yet been realized, with the exception of the models for the sound work Les Nuages sont les Racines de notre Terre (see public art), which have been exhibited on several occasions.

Der Esel, der zuhört | The Listening Donkey

Research project – Franckesche Stiftungen, Halle – Germany, 2009
The Listening Donkey is a project for a work to be placed outside the Francke University in Halle; it refers to a legend that is omnipresent in local iconography. The artist calls into question the notion of knowledge, superimposing academic culture on culture popular stemming from collective memory. The work takes the form of a fountain-sculpture in which the circulation of water evokes the thought process. At the place where one of the city gates once stood, the legendary donkey “lends us his ears”, forming another symbolic gateway.

Kopf in den Sternen | Head in the Stars

Research project – Dr Franck’ High School, Stassfurt, Germany – 2009

The historic heart of Stassfurt was destroyed when old mining tunnels that lay underneath caused it to collapsed. The city is thus deprived of part of its collective memory. Heads up in the Stars is intended for the Gymnasium, a combined junior and high school, an institution that bears hope for a brighter future. It is a school without a name, the latter having been removed from its façade during the GDR regime. The artist proposes to place an LCD screen on the façade displaying the sentence “We are the stars of this universe”. The students can activate the installation when they enter the building, asserting themselves as individuals with their own ideals within a perpetually changing constellation.

Das Lied der Nachtigall | The Nightingale’s Song

Research project – Herrenkrugpark, Magdeburg, Germany – 2015
Winner – Unrealized commission. This project integrates the themes proposed in the specifications: Franco-German friendship, peace between peoples and the natural links between Herrenkrug Park and the river Elbe. The work consists of 2 main elements: a legend-text inscribed in 7 languages on each of the pergola’s half-arched pillars, and a minimal light installation at the top of the central plinth representing a nightingale on a translucent, luminous plinth. Gun-shot and graffiti on the base will be left untouched. Nature will regain its rights by reintroducing medicinal plants and flowers to the ground around the plinth.

Saxe-Anhalt, Germany – Studies

Research project in Saxe-Anhalt - Germany