In 1995, at the initiative of the State/DRAC and the Gers department, the Departmental Conservation of Heritage and Museums 32 was created. In accordance with the Musées de France Act and the French Heritage Code, it is responsible for the management, conservation, and promotion of eight Historic Monument sites in the Gers region. As part of its mission, the Departmental Conservation has programmed and organized more than 140 exhibitions and led numerous ambitious cultural initiatives, accompanied by some fifty catalogs, over a thirty-year period, building a benchmark collection.
Since 2000, the Flaran Abbey in Valence-sur-Baïse, place of great heritage value and magnificent Cistercian abbey founded in 1151, has been spreading its influence throughout this rural area. Located in the abbey building, the annual photography exhibitions comprising La profondeur des champs alternate between black and white and color images, and the locations represented are regional or international, depending on the invited photographer artists. To date, this is the only contemporary photography creation on a rural theme, which naturally resonates with this department rooted in its terroir. The public, showing increasing interest over the years, therefore has access for the first time to the entirety of this original collection, from April to June 2025; an operation extended to 2026 on the occasion of the bicentenary of Photography (a national event of the Ministry of Culture) with the addition of other collected funds.
Among the artists exhibited, we find well-known names and others less so, among them: Daniel Maigné – photographer who initiated the operation – and his square black and white, captures the raw materials, vegetation and landscapes of Gascony, and imbues us with his carnal sensations; Bernard Plossu with Central and Northern Spain, one of his favorite hiking spots; Martine Chenais and the soft colors of the Landes; Christopher Taylor, reveals the motionless lights of Iceland, or Marie Hernandez and Françoise Nuñez, bringing their visual emotions gleaned in Ethiopia. Each of these perspectives contributes to the coherence of the whole, while showing their different approaches. Since 2009, a book has been published for each exhibition. The Sillon series, inaugurated by Daniel Maigné, – La Profondeur des champs, Sillon 1 – this collection constitutes a complementary iconography to the exhibition programming, and offers a current and renewed perspective on the theme.
Jean-Jacques Ader
“ La profondeur des champs 2002/2025 ” – at Flaran Abbey (Gers) from April 5 to June 15, 2025, TEL. 0531004575 – 32310 Valence-sur-Baïse; coordinated by the Departmental Conservation of Heritage and Museums/Flaran.
Information: https://www.patrimoine-musees-gers.fr/
Catalogs of the “Profondeur des champs ” series: https://flaranboutique.patrimoine-musees-gers.fr/catalogues-profondeur-des-champs-photo.html
