In her living room in the east of England, Mia Hansson tackled a crazy project almost six years ago: to reproduce in real size the Bayeux tapestry, the huge fresco which tells the conquest of the England by William the Conqueror.
"
I had nothing to do, I was bored and I needed a project that didn't end quickly
," comments this passionate 47-year-old Swede, who has been living in the United Kingdom for twenty years. years.
Read alsoDavid Hockney makes his "Bayeux tapestry" at the Musée de l'Orangerie
Passionate about embroidery, this former teacher decided in 2016 to embark on a reproduction of the most famous of them: the Bayeux tapestry, an almost thousand-year-old masterpiece nearly 70 meters long, a symbol of long-standing relationships. bellicose between England and the Continent.
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Five and a half years later and at the rate of three to four hours of embroidery per day, Mia Hansson has reached half of the tapestry in mid-January, which she keeps in rolls for lack of space to extend it.
She now knows the smallest details, down to the mistakes made by the seamstresses of the time.
"
There, for example, there are four soldiers' heads, but there are only four legs, that's not right
," she points out.
“
When you look at the original, you don't realize that.
But respectful of the history of art and of this undeniable masterpiece, she nevertheless reproduces these “
oddities
”, as she calls them: “
Who am I to change what has been done?
»
Classified memory of the world by Unesco
The UNESCO-listed 11th-century tapestry, likely designed in Canterbury, southeast England, is housed in a museum in the Normandy town of Bayeux, northwest France.
Paris and London have discussed a possible loan to the United Kingdom but it is not transportable before an in-depth restoration, from autumn 2024 and for a minimum of 18 months.
At first, Mia Hansson was "
not very interested in the history (of the tapestry)
", but she learned by embroidering and is now inexhaustible on the adventures of the 626 characters represented on the fresco.
“
On the tapestry, we have everything.
Birds and dragons, camels, horses, ships, monuments, nothing is ever the same
she explains enthusiastically.
To reproduce the embroidery of wool on linen, Mia Hansson uses threads of seven different colors.
“
If I have calculated correctly, I will need 8,000 meters in total
,” she estimates.
The Swede gives herself five more years to hope to complete her project on July 13, 2027, 11 years to the day after having started it.
"
From what I know, I'm the first to do it in Europe
," she says, knowing the work of a Canadian who has already made a similar replica in 10 years.
If Mia Hansson is not embroidering to break a record, she is already thinking about the future of her reproduction: “
I imagine I could sell it.
If someone makes me an offer that I can't refuse, I'll be happy
”.