NEXT CHAPTERS IN “LIGHT OF SAINTS. A PHOTOGRAPHIC PILGRIMAGE."
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MUSEON ARLATEN AND THE ROMANI WORLD
The city of Arles, and the Camargue more broadly, inspire Provence’s unique imaginary dimension.
The city’s ancient history, the presence of the Rhône River from its delta to the sea, the invention of the relics of The Three Marys, and the evangelisation of Provence, have all inspired real or imagined representations of the people who shaped this land.
For more than a century, the “Romani of Provence” have fascinated all who observed them. Whether from poets, artists, photographers or ethnologists, the perspectives on this community are never neutral and portray many different stereotypes, both negative and positive, that are interesting to study.
The term Boumian means “Bohemian” in Provençal, in reference to the kingdom of Bohemia, modern-day Czechia. The people known by this name traversed that region in the 14th century. Emperor Sigismund facilitated their movements through Christian countries with letters of protection.
Beyond that, the term Boumian more generally evokes a stereotypical image of Romani people, as barefoot, travelling entertainers, living off busking and petty theft.
This representation was mainly transmitted by Provence nativity scenes, offering an old-fashioned, folkloric view of Provence with figurines of santons (literally “little saints”) staged in scenes of rural life in a Provence village.
In the 17th century, Nicolas Saboly’s Christmas carols presented the Boumians in small groups, going to tell Baby Jesus’ fortune.
In the 18th century in Marseille, mechanical, talking, public Nativity scenes depicted a Bohemian accompanied by other figures such as a miller, a chimney sweep and a blind man, who reappear in Antoine Maurel’s iconic nativity play set in Provence, then in the popular 19th-century family nativities.
At times, the Bohemian man is represented with the rest of his family as an entertainer, bear or monkey tamer, or musician; at others, he is seen with a dagger, cape and hat, resembling a highwayman or bandit on the main roads.
The Bohemian woman is often a mother, represented with a child, or a proud dancer with a scarf and tambourine. In the latter case, she is imagined as an entertainer or fortune-teller.
THE “FACES OF BOHEMIA” OF FRÉDÉRIC MISTRAL
In his autobiographical work, Frédéric Mistral describes his fortuitous encounter with three Bohemians, who he calls thieves, but in the end turn out to be kind and culturally close to him, despite his initial fear.
“A little longer and the smoke would have eventually suffocated me; all of a sudden, I gave a start and cried out in fear... oh! If I didn’t die of terror right then and there, I would never die! Imagine, three faces of Bohemia, all three turning to me at the same time, with such eyes, such terrible eyes...
Don’t kill me! Don’t kill me! I cried, don’t kill me!
Then, the three Bohemians, who were, of course, just as scared as I, started to laugh, and one of them said,
Same to you! You can talk, you little rascal, you gave us a fine venette [scare]! When I saw them laugh and talk like me, I regained a little courage, and I felt an extremely pleasant roasting smell enter my nostrils. They told me to come down from my perch, asked me where I came from, who my family was, how I came to be there, and so on and so forth. Finally, fully reassured, one of the thieves (as they were indeed three thieves) said to me, “since you’ve plantié [skipped school], you must be hungry... here, take a bite of this.”
(Mes origines, mémoires et récits [My Origins, Memoirs and Stories], 1906)
LÉO LELÉE: BOHEMIANS IN PROVENCE IMAGERY
Léopold Lelée studied at the National School of Decorative Arts, then the School of Fine Arts. He moved to Arles in 1902, where he fell in love with the “clean architecture of the Alpilles hills and the silvery light that bathes the countryside.”
Very early on, Frédéric Mistral saw in this young painter, influenced by Art Nouveau, an opportunity to develop a Provençal artistic movement. He suggested that they combine their talents to bring popular imagery back in fashion in their local region. This resulted in compositions combining the drawings of Léo Lelée and texts handwritten by Frédéric Mistral and later, Fernant Benoît.
Léo Lelée opened a boutique near the Roman amphitheatre, A L’Image Prouvençau.
There, he sold all sorts of souvenirs, paintings, engravings and postcards, showing images with a high level of realism, resembling photographs.
This series, which aimed to depict the daily life of Provençal locals, already portrayed the Romani pilgrimage of Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer - an event that was clearly of great interest to tourists passing through. He perfectly depicts the religious fervour observed in the crowd when the chest of relics is lowered, and his portraits of Bohemians capture a specific moment free of context, depicting a pure, simple image that supports the stereotypical view of Romani people.
THE 1903 PILGRIMAGE, PHOTOGRAPHED BY JEAN-PAUL ANASTAY
Jean-Paul Anastay was a member of the Marseille Photography Society, taking many series of photos all across Provence between 1898 and 1914.
In 1903, he went on the Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer pilgrimage, returning with around fifteen shots, now conserved at Museon Arlaten.
His distanced approach to the “Bohemians”, who he seemed to capture in the midst of their daily activities, follows on from the work of artists such as Léo Leléé, who permanently established the romantic imagery around this nomadic people, simultaneously exotic and elusive.
THE “DESCENDANTS OF ATLANTIS” ACCORDING TO FOLCO DE BARONCELLI (1938)
It wasn’t until the early 20th century that the image of the Camargue and the Romani people evolved, through the efforts of Marquis Folco de Baroncelli. In 1935, he formalised the procession of Saint Sarah to the sea, offering religious and social recognition to Romani populations in the department and beyond.
In most of the Marquis’ writing, he gives a romantic description of these “proud nomads”.
“Romanis flee before invaders; they seek refuge between the lagoons and the marshes, unwelcoming, impractical and unliveable for all but them, natives of these areas. There, they erect their temples, where they worship the Fire and the Sun (like the Redskins, like the Egyptians). (“The Bohemians and Saintes-Maries-de la Mer”, in La Revue d’Arles, no. 3, May 1941).
Beyond that, he invents a connection between the Romani and the mythical land of Atlantis, as he recounts to journalist Jean Clère in 1938, recorded on magnetic tape kept in the Museon archives...
THE INTERNMENT OF NOMADS UNDER THE VICHY REGIME
In 1999, photographer Mathieu Pernot created a memoir project on the internment camp in Saliers, Camargue, where 668 “nomads” were imprisoned in terrible conditions between 1942 and 1944.
Using historic documents and anthropometric records kept at the Bouches-du-Rhône Archives, he surveyed all of France to find former prisoners of the camp and collect their testimonials.
His work, combining photographic portraits, archival documents and oral interviews, is now kept in the Museon Arlaten collection.
THE ROMANI PILGRIMAGE IN THE 21ST CENTURY
In 2010, Museon Arlaten performed an ethnographic study of the Romani community in Arles, focusing on family, marriage, relationship to education and the gadjo world as doorways into this little-known land.
The pilgrimage of 24 and 25 May is an important event for the community, as well as a fascinating opportunity for observation for people interested in the history of this group. Between 2011 and 2015, the museum’s ethnologists and videographers were able to capture the permanent and shifting phenomena specific to this event. Though nowadays, the vast majority of Romani people in Arles have converted to Evangelicalism, they continue to attend the gathering at Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer every year, as a key site for exchange, celebration and family reunion.
This event was also an opportunity for the museum to get to know the Baptiste family, which, for several generations - since the legendary figure of “Coucou” - have taken up the honorary duty of “carrying the Saints”. This encounter gave rise to a unique collection of testimonials and symbolic objects, including an alb worn by relic-bearers, loaned to the museum for two years, which visitors can see in the last section of the permanent exhibition.