Art video Cantabile per archi
[CANTABILE PER ARCHI] TRIBUTE TO PETERIS VASKS
It was on a "pilgrimage" to the Fnac Music shop in Paris, that a CD cover attracted li Chevalier's eyes. The discovery of its musical content turned out to be an overwhelming audio experience. Thus began the story of far apart yet warm exchanges between visual artist li Chevalier and the composer of [Cantabile per archi] , Peteris Vasks, a leading figure of Latvia musical world.
A simmering creative energy was born out of the inspiring symphony by Peteris Vasks: from the ineffable beauty of his cherished Latvian nature, vast forest spaces expressed by lyrical sounds of strings , to cries of despair and anguish, one perceives the vectors of a tragic dichotomy between the humanistic ideals of the artist and the devastating historical tragedies that have plagued his world. A strong resonance occurred within Li's heart and soul, arising from two lands seemingly so far away, however having faced similar fates... two spirits, two art forms ... strings, pencils, songs, colors, echo in a same symphony, sighs, screams, silence, hope...
The installation [Cantabile per archi] by li Chevalier is composed of a "forest" of stringed instruments adorned with subtle touches of her own art. What else could it be? Li Chevalier visited over and over again tirelessly the legendary" village of violins" on the margins of his native Beijing; its population lives and works only for music, in this almost artisanal phase, where the instruments take shape under anonymous hands before, flooding China and beyond by tens of thousands. Li rummaged through the four corners of this factory, collected the violin components at each stage of their production, from raw wood to finished instrument, until finally, she assembled them into a symphony carrying her own aesthetic vision paying tribute to the craftsmen, artists, famous or unknown, but all of them stakeholders of the eternal glory of classical music.
Who would know the fate of those violins? Some will be caressed by the finest musicians in the world, performing perhaps one day the [Cantabile per archi] of Peteris. Others already elected as part of li 's [Cantabile per archi] will take part in this exciting encounter between visual art and music that she offers us under the majestic arch of the Beijing Opera.
