At an altitude of 2,188 metres, between France and Italy, the Little St Bernard Pass is this summer becoming the setting for an extraordinary artistic experience. Until 20 September, the artist Natacha Rottier is taking over the Hospice with «Purple Solstice – Le Creuset du Petit Saint-Bernard», an immersive exhibition exploring the deep connections between light, landscape, memory and transformation.
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For this child of La Rosière, now settled in Bourg-Saint-Maurice, it is the culmination of her efforts. «It's a bit like the culmination, exhibiting in this place, because it's really in situ, really adapted to this place.»
A phenomenon observed on a solstice evening
It all started with a personal experience on 21 June 2021. That evening, up on the mountain pass, Natacha Rottier witnessed a rare phenomenon. «On the day of the solstice, the last rays of the sun set right in a small V-shaped pass behind the Lancebranlette, and illuminate the stone circle. Half of the plateau is in shadow and the other in the light» does she tell in Le Petit Montagnard.
This mysterious circle of stones, difficult to date but at least Celtic, then takes on an unexpected hue. «Just after the last rays disappeared, a violet light emanated from the circle.» Hence the title of the exhibition.
That evening, the almost full Moon sets opposite the Sun. «For me, there was a perfect balance between opposing polarities, on a territorial scale but also a cosmic one» recalls the artist, who sees it as the shift from the longest day to the shortest day. A founding shock that would trigger five years of research in his studio at the Friche artistique in Bourg-Saint-Maurice.
Paper stained glass, sculptures and film
From this vision emerged an initial motif – a mandorla depicting the phenomenon as seen from the sky – which now appears in various forms throughout the exhibition. For «Purple Solstice» takes on many forms. «There is a film, translucent collages like paper stained glass, sculptures that are models proposing sensory spaces, photographs…» provide details on Natacha Rottier.
A transdisciplinary body of work (installation, video, writing, sound design, and a piece of music composed with her partner) that engages in a dialogue with the architecture of the hospice and the thousand-year history of the mountain pass.
Behind the approach, a conviction. «The challenge is to restore the sacred nature of the site» explains the artist, who sees in this place, even older than its Greco-Roman remains, «a connection to the earth and to the sky, a connection to the divine.» An intuition rooted in history. A bust of Jupiter, evidence of a cult dedicated to Heracles and an ancient statuette of a mother goddess have been found there.
Energy walks«
But the exhibition does not stop at the walls of the hospice. All summer long, Natacha Rottier is offering immersive events, chief among which are her «energy walks»
«The aim is really to be in the feeling, the body. I take them to certain specific points on the pass to make them feel the breathing of the place, guided by the elements: air, earth, water» she explains.
To go further, on 20 August the artist will give a lecture in the European room of the hospice, entitled «The Little St Bernard Pass: an initiatory, alchemical place?». This will be an opportunity to share the fruits of his research (mythology, megalithism, the figure of St Bernard) and to invite everyone to take a fresh look at this pass, no longer just as a place of passage, but as a space for experience and contemplation.
Find out more :
- Exposition: «Purple Solstice – Le Creuset of the Little Saint Bernard», by Natacha Rottier
- Where: Hospice du Petit Saint-Bernard, Séez
- When from 20 June to 20 September
- Price : free admission
- Lecture: «The Petit Saint-Bernard Pass: a place of initiation and alchemy?», 20 August at 3.00 pm, the European Room at the hospice
- Not to be missed: energetic walks, guided tours and meet-ups all summer long