Trying The Long Game In France.

I am sure the Flight of the Earls caused trepidation to the travelers many years ago. In my case, I was asked by my exhibiting neighbor Marika, ‘Are you not scared to come to France, as one of the few international exhibitors in Craft (Métiers d’Art) section at Maison et Objet?.’ I said, ‘Of course not,’ but behind a few engagements in the car parks, out in the suburbs, I could see that France can be a hard place. 

In my second attempt to ‘crack’ France (or third as I did a group Irish show back in 2014), it still seemed hard. However, having been given a prime spot of 5m high exhibition space, in the prized pavilion, I set about suspending two mobile light sculptures. ‘Infinity Chains’ is a 116-piece sculpture, painted in graduated tones on composite aluminium, suspended in 19 rows. The second piece I presented was ‘Citeóg,’ a 20-piece mobile sculpture with green and blue tones, hammered in thin copper. Underneath this I showed my ‘EI-APD Desk,’ with a piece of Boeing 707 fuselage at its center. The final piece ‘Verdant’ was a twin spiral two-meter sculpture made with artillery shells, car parts and industrial bronze with two aluminium spirals in green and blue. Having my nephew, Hugo, a native speaker, at my side for a day or two was great until he went on his way to see his Parisian cousins, after this I was flying solo with my bad French. 

After day one was hampered by railway strikes, day two was much better as the Americans and international visitors flew in. This major show of interiors, art, craft, and furniture, even has sections for linen and fragrances, so a remarkably diverse set of visitors plough through the halls for five days looking for the ‘next big thing,’ or just a good deal. 

Now that my stand was set, I could relax a bit and get around to see some of my friends from the last time and meet some new faces too. Kartini Thomas with her ceramic monsters, Andrea Stahl with her Corten steel discs and her collaborator Nora Engels, who carved her solid wood cushions. Hubert Landri who made large cactus style sculptures or Jean- Christophe Dablemont with his fish chandeliers, were all my neighbors. Our Korean neighbor, Xeung Yun of Furmin, provided Korean high style each day with her immaculate dresses. The Atliers de France are part owners of the Maison et Objet show, so there was no expense spared to make French craft shine, so, being one the few, selected, foreign exhibitors iwas a privileged position.  

In the end, I met folk from as far away as Mali, Guadeloupe, Saudi, Taiwan and even a few Russians who claimed to be from Kazakstan or Lithuania. Having returned through Rosslare on Tuesday and cleared out the van, and gotten a good night sleep, I can summarise my feelings of stimulation by seeing splendid work, frustration at sometimes how France works, and the feeling of doubt as to whether I am doing the right thing in the right place is still here. The sure thing is that putting myself forward in a public way still serves to edit, improve, and prepare better each time I go. 

Remembering my conversation with a print artist from Normandy, who indicated that he had done the show fifty times over twenty-five years, it certainly proved that this is working for him. 

I hope that the work stood out enough to get the contacts through, but the serious work starts now.  

In conclusion, anybody who has ever tried to do business in France knows that it is difficult. My goal is to make more contacts on the continent in art galleries, collectors and high-end interiors projects is ongoing. If I can improve my French and continue to improve my offering, I should finally see the fruits of this project. And finally, be able to order the correct coffee and the croissant without a glitch. 

Clockwise left to right: Aurélie Abadie + Sauques Samuel, Kartini Thomas, Marika M., Andrea Stahl and Nora Engles, David Harber, Jean-Christophe Couradin, Jean-Christophe Dablemont and Joao Manardu.