THE MAJORITY OF ACCENT 2018-2024
“Les voix des fleuves, Crossing the water”, the 17th edition of the Lyon Biennale, Artistic director: Isabelle Bertolotti Guest curator: Alexia Fabre


290 x 475 cm
Textile dyeing, embroidery and seeds on printed fabric Sound and fabric arrangement of fiber-filled and embroidered fabric objects of different sizes
The Majority of Accent was inspired by the memories of Jean-Paul and Viviane Reymond, Delphine Fortin, Christine Ya, Yves Rodot, Christian Brun, Jose Luis Lopez Lara and Michel.
Supported by the Saha Foundation
Thanks to Pioneer Works and the Water Mill Center, NYC

” The fabric that forms the backdrop of Accent Majority was printed from a photograph that I took as an image of a rocky area in the city. The area was a hill be digged for building in the city. This image began to take shape in response to questions about how we relate to the ground and its emphasis as a physical, linguistic, or cultural fragment, and how we shape the earth and spaces we inhabit and the shared spaces of belonging. In 2018, I began working with fabric through sewing and dyeing in the Pioneer Works residency program under the title Majority of Accent. In 2021, I developed the idea further with dance and movement under the same title at the Water Mill Center. My dream was to present the fabric, which I embroidered with figures mixed with roots, plants and animals, where the boundaries of the body merged with the motif of the fabric, as a memory scene through collaborative works.

[…] During my visits to Lyon, I had the chance to discover the tr ans for mation of the bui ldin gs of G r andes Loc os thr ough a collective effort, as a meeting and transition point between different actors, languages, accents and geographies. The stones, the ground of memories from different languages and roots, are the foundation of the railroad tracks of the Grandes Locos space. The plants that have taken over the work of repair and maintenance from the workers, the stones, and especially the character and strong roots of the butterfly tree plant that occupies the rails, merged with the workers’ stories of production and resistance. […]” — GÖZDE İLKİN