Page 47 - Studio International - April 1971

Events by

Miralda and Selz

Two Paris-based artists, Antoni Miralda and
Dorothée Selz, have for some time been
exploring the possibilities of coloured foods,
and have presented 'coloured feasts' in France
and Germany. One of these events, which took
place at Verderonne in September 1970, is
illustrated here.
They have also organized 'festivals'
dependent for their effect largely on the massed
use of colours, in particular a ceremonial
`Festival of Death' held at Verderonne on
November 2 and 9, 1969, organized in
conjunction with Joan Rabascall, Jaume Xifra,
and Eliane Radigue. Those who took part in
this celebration wore purple clothes and ate
food coloured black and purple—black bread,
black rice, cakes with currants and plums, eaten
by the light of black wax candles. Last year, at
the end of spring, they also staged a 'Festival in
White' at the Centre Artistique at Verderonne,
near Senlis, about 70 kilometres from Paris.
Three hundred people took part in the
Festival, which marked 'a time of respite after
winter, a relief from preoccupation, a calm
interval between winter work and summer
pleasures'.
Dressed in white robes designed by Paco
Rabanne, the participants approached the
chateau by way of a path made white with chalk,
filed past a mirror set up in the grass, and moved
into the grounds of the chateau, bearing white
flowers in their arms. There, as two doves rose
into the sky and a flock of hundreds of pigeons
passed, they assembled in the white dome and
moved on through the chateau grounds in
procession, to the accompaniment of melodies
played on a shepherd's pipe, past the lake on
which white balloons floated, and to an opening
in the park laid out with white cloths. Here
everybody sat and ate and drank—white wine,
milk, rice, fish, white cheeses, white meringues,
creme Chantilly, served by young white-robed
couples. A white meal, eaten in white silence ...
Hundreds of white balloons were released and
rose into approaching evening. Those who chose
to could return to the white dome and watch a
white film by Beni, projected on the night.
The ingredients of this festival included
1,000 white balloons, 500 pigeons, 400 white
meringues, 60 litres of white wine, 22 bridal
robes, 2 swans, 100 litres of milk, 2 trays of
make-up materials, 8 Brie cheeses, and 200
copies of a Journal Blanc. q

Dinner for Pierre Restany, Cesar and Lefranc,
Rouge-rose-jaune-orange, organized by Miralda and
Selz in February, 1970.
2 Memorial (Festival of Death) — Banquet funeraire
noir et mauve, held at Verderonne on November 2,
1969
3 Rice salad and bread
4, 5, 6 & 7 'Festival in White', held at Verderonne on
June 13, 1970

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