Lace reinvented in Arlanc | Vacances en Auvergne – Maison du Tourisme du Livradois Forez

Memory lane

From her grandmother Félicie, Ginette Bravard inherited the “carreau”, the work surface used by these fairy-fingered workers to perform their often nocturnal tasks.

Leaning over this century-old tool, the lace-maker unravels the thread of her memories, half-concentrated, half-dreaming, as a little girl observing the women of the village.

” In summer, the lacemakers would gather under the same tree. They’d get down to work and chat together, while keeping an eye on the children. The spindles were often made from wild cherry wood, which we used to make clafoutis “, she recalls.

With two bobbins in each hand, the very bobbins used to make the cakes of yesteryear, the lace-maker from Argenteuil now reproduces the gestures of yesteryear.

The applied gesture

Where a spider might tangle its brushes like many others, Ginette crosses and intertwines dozens of threads of linen or silk. With a logic that will make neophytes swoon and scholars envious.
Using needles planted in the tile pad, the lacemaker moves from one stitch to another. She then follows the pattern drawn on a sheet of paper laid on the loom.
Far from industrial cadences, the work progresses in small steps. It takes hours of work to produce just a few centimetres of lace.
At this pace, and also thanks to practice, Ginette knows how to recognize beautiful work from more ordinary pieces.

“As with other crafts, some Arlanc lacemakers stood out from the crowd,” explains Ginette.

Once finished, the lace “grid” will be assembled with other motifs made separately to form a larger, more homogeneous whole.

Between heritage and contemporary art

Although lace has fallen somewhat into disuse, it reappears here and there according to fashion. Without ever being able to recapture the glory days when it served as a social marker.

Presented at the Musée de la Dentelle in Arlanc, the work of the lacemakers of yesteryear, of whom Ginette Bravard is the proud descendant, evokes the luxury of another era.

Three contemporary artists revisit lace

To avoid mothballs, and despite the obvious historical, anthropological and aesthetic interest of its permanent collection, the Musée de la Dentelle in Arlanc has recently played the modern card. It has invited three contemporary artists to exhibit their work during the summer.