Female Popes: Avignon Papal Palaces special exhibition "Le Papesses"

In June i was working as a Tour Accompanier (a major part of how i make my living) on a trip that included a visit to the Palais de Papes, the Papal Palaces in Avignon, France. This is where the Popes lived during The Avignon Exile, having abandoned Rome for most of the 14th century.

"We Are All Flesh (Istanbul)", Belinda de Bruckyere, 2011-2012

The Palaces themselves proved impressive in size, but stripped of any riches by the post-French Revolution forces of Napoleon Bonaparte. But in their halls we found this amazing exhibition of modern art titled, Les Papesses, (The Female Popes)!

The first piece you encounter on the visit route was this one, seemingly a deformed Mr. Potato Head doll made out of horse bodies. It was a pretty good shocker. One of the teachers of the group, from the Art Department of their school, came running back from that room to tell me to look forward to what was coming next. She was right to be excited, i thought, this was sure to be more exciting than any Papal museum on its own!:-)

"Chemise de Nuit" ("Night Shirt") by Jana Sterbak

The title, the curator explained in on-site information placards, was taken from the legend of Pope Joan. Though i'm thinking i will add another blogpost just on this legend soon, here is the short version:

During the 9th Century the Pope was crossing the Tiber River in Rome during a parade....when she gave birth. The crowd was horrified, stoned the Pope to death and tossed the wretched, female body into the river. So the curator brought together 4 female artists with provocative art and dubbed them The Female Popes. 

The information panels on-site also referenced medieval theater customs. 

From "Le Papesses" ("The Female Popes"), temporary exhibit
at Palais de Papes, the Palaces of the Popes, in Avignon, France.

"The collected works of these high priestesses have been chosen have been chosen to reconstruct Avignon's medieval history, the time when early theatre portrayed mystery plays, so that fear of the devil could be exorcised, and the celebrated prophecies of Nostradamus expressed," 

writes Mezil, the curator.

i could easily see how these works invoked mystery plays - because i had no idea what some of these pieces were, what they represented or why. But i enjoyed it and found it very thought provoking.

From "Le Papesse" ("The Female Popes"), temporary exhibit
at Palais de Papes, the Palaces of the Popes, in Avignon, France.

From "Le Papesses" ("The Female Popes"), temporary exhibit
at Palais de Papes, the Palaces of the Popes, in Avignon, France.

In fact, except for just a couple of pieces, i failed to either find out or to record the name and artist of the specific pieces, as you will see from most of the remaining captions. But they are all from those four female artists, seen here as priestesses of the highest level: Camille Claudel, Louise Borgeois, Kiki Smith, Jana Sterbak, Belinda de Bruckyere.

The exhibit went on through many rooms of the Palaces, and really made it much more interesting. Otherwise it is just a series of empty halls. When i later asked my American, mostly-student group what they had thought of the exhibit, most of them responded with questions of their own: "What WAS that?" "Why was THAT there?"

From "Le Papesses" ("The Female Popes"), temporary exhibit
at Palais de Papes, the Palaces of the Popes, in Avignon, France.

  And at least three students, independently of each other, told me that they didn't like the exhibit because it had made them uncomfortable. 

From "Le Papesses" ("The Female Popes"), temporary exhibit
at Palais de Papes, the Palaces of the Popes, in Avignon, France.

i am no expert on modern art or its purposes, but i told them i suspected this made the exhibit and its pieces a success - it seemed fairly clear that the artists, the curator, and whoever's idea it was to put this in the Papal Palaces had all meant to be provocative, to provoke thought and feeling. A few kids thought it was disturbing, a few, like me, thought it was cool and exciting. ::Check:: - the artists got us, i think, mission accomplished?

From "Le Papesses" ("The Female Popes"), temporary exhibit
at Palais de Papes, the Palaces of the Popes, in Avignon, France.

From "Le Papesses" ("The Female Popes"), temporary exhibit
at Palais de Papes, the Palaces of the Popes, in Avignon, France.

The exhibit did give the palaces a bit of spooky or eerie quality, to be sure, especially this piece, of ghostly night gowns and strait jackets.

And one piece that thrilled me more than any of the others was a sculpture of an enormous spider. In any other context, it would have been meaningless to me. But here in the palaces where seven Popes lived, it seemed clear to me that this was a reference to the Queen Spider, holder of the Holy Document of Vatican Law. 

From "Le Papesses" ("The Female Popes"), temporary exhibit
at Palais de Papes, the Palaces of the Popes, in Avignon, France.

If you don't already know the reference, you should really check out the classic South Park episode, Red Hot Catholic Love. i did not find out exactly when the sculpture was made (if anyone out there has that info, or any of the names, dates or artists of these other pieces, i would love to hear from you!), but the South Park episode is from 2002. So, though i don't know which came first, i am very confident that these two pieces must have influenced each other (either that or maybe they just both portray a profound and hidden truth. i mean, can these two sources combined really be less reliable than the world's best-selling living author, Dan Brown?? ;-) )

"Pomodoro or Pomme d'or - Tomate" by Jana Sterbak, 2013.

This piece by Jana Sterbak is fascinating in its title. "Pomodoro" in Italian means tomato, but "Pomme d'or" in French, i'm pretty sure, means "Golden Apple."

From "Le Papesses" ("The Female Popes"), temporary exhibit
at Palais de Papes, the Palaces of the Popes, in Avignon, France.

The exhibit, opened on the 9th of June, will continue till November 11, 2013. If you're going to be in this region of France, this exhibit is a wonderfully refreshing attraction among the castles and churches we usually tourist-shuffle through. And it sure brings to life an otherwise stripped-bare site of former Papal splendor.

All photos by the author.