Le Jupon de l’Absinthe is a multi-sensory, historical and initiatory exhibition combining contemporary works by a collective of twelve artists and craftspeople from Nord-Vaud, Neuchâtel and Valais.
Inspired by the region’s absinthe heritage, the artists depict the Belle Époque (late 19th century – 1914), the prohibition of the Green Fairy (1908-2005), and its legalization twenty years ago.
Through the sixty-eight works in the exhibition, frills, mysteries and creations transport you to a parallel universe that questions our imagination.
Artists & Creations
Carole Alkabes
Photography
In her Aetheria series, the photographer transforms absinthe into a plant allegory. These modern Vanitas evoke the intoxicating seduction of the Green Fairy.
Françoise Bovet
Distillation
The traversine distiller has created a feminine absinthe called Le Jupon de l’Absinthe. Her secret recipe joins the award-winning absinthes of her father, a notorious clandestine distiller.
Annina Buri Berney
Textile art
Inspired by the Route de l’Absinthe, linking Noiraigue (CH) to Pontarlier (FR), the artist transcribes this trail into embroidery.
Coca or Caroline Cortès
Mosaic & storytelling
The mosaic artist arranges her tesserae to represent three absinthe drinkers in color.
At the same time, the storyteller’s recorded words draw us into the history and legends of the Green Fairy.
Nicolas Court
Art mechanics
This watchmaker-automatier brings matter to life through the magic of mechanics. Designed in collaboration with Jean-Pierre Vaufrey, Breuvage aux deux Visages fascinates with its vivacity.
Duo Draak
Music
Anne-Sylvie Casagrande and Yveline Schwab’s Table musicale invites visitors to immerse themselves in small, original worlds of sound. More of their music is hidden in the exhibition.
Alain Perraudin
Optical toys
Inspired by the optical toys of the early 20th century, the artist creates a parallel between the visual confusion of drunkenness and the recomposition of jerky movement typical of kaleidoscopes and zoetropes.
Etienne Vanhoutte
Wrought iron
An atypical artist, he welds and shapes metal into poetry. From the sobriety of his Equilibre du Silence to his Vélocipède, he rethinks the Belle Époque in original artifacts.
Jean-Pierre Vaufrey
Sculpture
The sculptor set himself the challenge of materializing the often tortured spirit or essence of absinthe.
Collaborations
BAZ|ZAB associates
A collective creation zone, the BAZ|ZAB in the former Reuge factory in Sainte-Croix collaborates with the Collectif du Jupon de l’Absinthe: two of its artists take part in the exhibition through a tribute to the three-masted ship La Marie-Thérèse, sunk with its cargo of absinthe, and feathered hats, created in collaboration with Ingrid Braff Besson.
Ingrid & Co
Scenography
Captivated by the exuberance of the Belle Époque, stylist Ingrid Braff Besson and decorators Caroline Besson and Juliane de Senarclens designed the exhibition. They transpose us into a universe combining the past and contemporary creations.
Project supporters
- Town of Sainte-Croix
- Association for the Development of Northern Vaud (ADNV)
- Commission culturelle d’Yverdon-les-Bains | Culture and sports scholarships
- Loterie Romande
- Sandoz Family Philanthropic Foundation
- Coromandel Foundation
- Banque Cantonale Neuchâteloise (BCN)
- Lion’s Club Yverdon Azur
- Mec-Art Association
- ABΠ Foundation
- Mobiliar
- SUISA
- Barrière Casinos
- Casino Neuchâtel
- Swiss Society of Authors (SSA)
- Absinthe Bovet, Môtiers
- Raiffeisen Bank
