trespassess

I went to Oradour-sur-Glane (village martyr) in the Haute-Vienne region of France in 2011 and, more recently, in April 2014, to see the last day of the photographic exhibition "Femmes & Guerres - one person crying, women and war"

After the exhibition I re-visited the village, with some work I had already done, including the original of this poem, on my mind. Some small changes had occurred and the village seemed more manicured, tidied up, the oak timbers there in 2011 had now mostly gone, the little underground museum of artefacts was closed off (this is where I had first seen the tiny spectacles, lunettes, in a glass case in 2011) and now one could only enter the village via the centre de la memoire and rules about photography now seemed ambiguous. At the same time, the village seemed strangely more peaceful, maybe less emotional, than on my first visit in 2011 – I was more at peace perhaps after viewed the Femmes & Guerres exposition before entering the village (?)

These changes stimulated me enough to want to re-capture my own sense of place while I still could. So, here is my small film with text based on the original poem, with very little change, and music which I have made and kept purposely simple. I trust you find something here for yourself.