The IAC Villeurbanne has been hosting “The Middle Earth” exhibition by the artists Jimmie Durham and Maria Thereza Alves from March 2 to May 27, 2018.

“The Middle Earth” by Maria Thereza Alves and Jimmie Durham

Jimmie Durham and Maria Thereza Alves have dedicated their “Middle Earth” exhibition to the Mediterranean.

It came to be because both artists wish to discover together the land in which they live in a poetic and critical way.

After a long stay in Marseilles, Rome and then Naples, the two settled on the edge of the “Inland Sea”, following the continuous wandering that brought them from the American continent to Europe, and it is here that they begin to research the Mediterranean’s entire heritage.

Maria Thereza Alves, in her works, focuses mainly on the migration phenomenon and the uprooting of people between poetry and ethnology, while Jimmie Durham focuses on the relationship between architecture and national history, and new interpretations.

Both Jimmie and Maria Thereza have points in common, including political commitment and common research goals. They both reflect on the same ideological structures that shape the relationship between people and the world around them.

“The Middle Earth” exhibition is divided into ten “sections” in rhyme with each other as if it were a poem.

The exhibition shows early Christian archaeological remains, contemporary paintings, text on the wall, together with food and music.

The visitor, carried with the music of sirens, is invited to trace the bonds that all these elements can have with each other and thus discover what the Middle-earth means for Jimmie and Maria Thereza.