Le Figaro Nantes
It will measure three meters high.
Will weigh 750 kg.
Will be semi-submerged with feet in the water.
And modeled in a bronze resistant to sea air.
No, it is not the installation of yet another wind turbine, which the mayor of this Vendée commune particularly curses... but a majestic statue of Ulysses.
In Sables-d'Olonne, this immense work of art should take place in the bay by the end of May, a few days before the passage of the Olympic flame.
And this, despite the voices which are beginning to be raised against this symbol of Antiquity.
The seaside resort had already faced controversy over another statue, that of Saint-Michel, which it ultimately had to move 13 meters last September, in the name of secularism.
While the series was not yet complete, the municipality was already planning on something else.
The idea for an imposing work emerged two years ago.
During a call for tenders launched in this regard, the culture commission set its sights on a proposal from the sculptor Christophe Charbonnel, whose works litter the town of Aléria in Corsica.
“I work on mythology.
The theme seemed to me to “match” with Sables-d'Olonne and the presence of the marine environment
,” confides to Le
Figaro
the artist who has been working on it for about a year, accompanied by other art artisans.
Almost finished, the work is currently resting in Belgium before being placed in a few weeks on its concrete base.
“For me, sculpture that goes outdoors takes on a prodigious poetry.
The monumental is intended to go outdoors
,” expresses the dreamy sculptor.
Also read: Five expressions that come to us from Greek mythology
An opposition petition
“We wanted a figurative work, with an embodied character, which had meaning,”
confides Yannick Moreau, the mayor (various right) of the town, contacted by telephone.
“We thought that Ulysses was the winner.
He ticks all the boxes: he’s a tribute to our sailors, he’s a rooted sailor, who circumnavigated the known world of the time.”
The councilor is very proud of this hero with an adventurous spirit.
“He is a legendary figure who connects us to our culture, to our civilization, and who conveys through the centuries and millennia values that we would like to pass on to future generations
. ”
Enough to raise the hackles of some people.
Like those of three opposition councilors who, in a column which has not yet been published in the latest issue of the municipal bulletin due to a
“design error”
(publicly recognized), criticize this initiative.
“The madness of the statues takes on the appearance of a Greek tragedy
,” they begin, before regretting the
“150,000 euros”
invested.
A costly symbol also criticized by a local citizens' association and by a petition which has collected 2,600 signatures to date.
In this text,
“residents and lovers of Sables-d’Olonne”
denounce the environmental impact of such a project in an already
“highly urbanized” landscape.
And wonder about its meaning.
“It is the inconsistency of the symbol that is shocking.
Why install a Greek statue in the bay of Sables-d’Olonne?”
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Les Sables-d’Olonne, “city of art and history”
These criticisms do not make the mayor of the town tremble.
"It's a choice.
Les Sables is a city of art and history.
We're trying to get art out of museums.
In this project, there is an act of civilization to transmit values inherited from ancient Greece,”
retorts Yannick Moreau.
He also specifies, a bit jokingly, that this is not an ephemeral cardboard-mâché statue but a sculpture which is intended to last over time.
In a prefectural decree dated February 9, state services granted a temporary authorization for five years, renewable.
An additional element to respond to opponents of the project.
“The City does not have jurisdiction over what happens in the public maritime domain.
To obtain authorization for installation, we had to put together a file and carry out studies to convince the State
.
And not only that.
Other nautical authorities have joined, like the president of the Pays de la Loire Regional Fisheries Committee, José Jouneau.
“It's not a bad thing.
It’s a way of promoting Les Sables.
There was indeed the Colossus of Rhodes which was a wonder of the world... We don't have the means!”
, laughs the Sable fisherman.
As for financial questions, Yannick Moreau brushes them aside:
“Culture is priceless.
It has a cost, and the cost is limited to the strict weight of the material.
The artist almost gives us a gift of his creation
.
An element confirmed by its creator Christophe Charbonnel, who mentions a sum
“not so enormous compared to certain prices on the art market”
.
In any case, he prefers to stay away from controversies, whether linked to money or politics, even though his work has not yet been revealed.
“What interests me is to see a piece of this magnitude exist in the public domain
,” he concludes.