Cordes-sur-ciel[1]: a fortified village in the prefecture of Tarn (river) in Occitania (Occitanie) in the south of France, where geography and the local meteorological conditions create all around the hill a dense fog, a sea of clouds. The inhabitants of the village at the top of the hill find themselves between the sky and the clouds of fog, so the name then is perfectly justified! (Earlier the name was Cordes, but in 1993 the name Cordes-sur-Ciel was adopted to indicate the strange phenomenon of the fog.) There are many explanations about the name. One of them connects Cordes to Cordoba, since both places were famous for leather-working, and that was after the arrival of some people from the city of Andalusia.
Cordes was first established in 1222 A.D., it prospered in the 13th-14th century and it is connected to the dramatic history of the “Cathars” – “the Cathari” – “the Pure,” (from the Greek “κatharos”) and with all the dramatic maelstrom of that “Edenic” place on the north side of the Pyrenees. More specifically, Cordes was built in order to shelter the populations of the villages destroyed by the 4th Crusade against the Albigenses (the residents of Albi) around 1209-1218. The campaign of the kings of Paris and the Pope had as its goal the annihilation of the Cathars (2nd Crusade 1224-1243) as heretic Christians – they called themselves “the good-the select-the perfect people,” but for the other inhabitants of the South of France the operative word was “the good people.” When the protestants arrived to the South, the people there thought that “the good people” had come again. (For a brief history of the Cathar adventure, see: www.histoire-france.net/moyen/cathares)
The reason of this search for the tragic fate of the “Cathars – Cathari” was the 8th “Festival International de Poésie Actuelle” (7/8-9/2016) organized by the Médiathèque in the area of Cordes and La Maison des Surréalistes. A number of institutions support this Festival, such as the City Hall, the publishing house Rafael de Surtis, etc. This Festival is closely connected to the history of Cordes-sur-Ciel, both extended and very recent, since a coincidence of events connected Cordes to the surrealists.
Three indices might help one understand the peculiarity of this Festival:
a) During the prosperity period of Cordes (13th – 14th century) wonderful Gothic palaces were built, having excellent decorations in the public, exterior surfaces, picturing many animals (real and imaginary) – besides, there is a rich bibliography dealing with this particularity. But, as this little city was spared during the hundred-year war, these palaces offer a great opportunity for a cultural and tourist activity at Cordes-sur-Ciel.
b) This small city (of 1,100 residents today, as opposed to the 5,000 residents during its “glorious” era,) has Public Record Offices, a Library, a Sugar and Chocolate Museum and the Museum of Contemporary Fine Arts with emphasis on the surrealist movement, which is housed at La Maison du Grand Fauconnier, with its 14th century façade, its ground floor archways, the sculptures at the high cornice, its 15th century courtyard and its beautiful staircase.
c) Cordes is connected to the upheavals and the clashes in the name of religion and ideas and more specifically, with the tendencies (heretical or not, according to the predominant Catholic view) of Christian religion, the apocryphal traditions, with spiritual movements, alchemy, the oral tradition, and the autonomous organizations. So, the course of Cordes moves between mystical trends, mystery and the Mysteries – in the Ancient Greek sense.
Why such a strong presence of surrealism in this small city of Cordes-sur-Ciel? To begin with, the city exudes with ample clarity the transition from the Middle ages to the Renaissance, since it was established as a “Bastide,” not as a fortified city, but a city able to develop in space and time, without its fortification being excluded: a city for commerce and not for defensive goals, which as a settlement/city-planning choice, was developed after the 13th century. The larger buildings-palaces belonged to the merchants and to a few aristocrats and more specifically to those who traded in the color “pastel” (a blue color that comes from the yellow flowers of a local plant[2]) textile factories (e,g, bed sheets) and leather – period of power 1280-1380 A.D. Because of historic events and realignments – new trade routes, opening of the canal of the South (Canal de Midi, 17th century, connecting the Atlantic to the Mediterranean) – Cordes was “forgotten” but it kept its character, which became a strong magnet for artists, writers and poets to settle in this city of “earthly magic.”
More specifically, of the artists who (in the 20th century) chose Cordes as their way of life and art production, most came from the surrealist movement.
—Maurice Baskine (1901-1968,) member of the surrealist group, withdraws in 1951 and follows a solitary path combining surrealism and “Art Brut” with inspiration from alchemy, which he called “fantasophy” (fantasophie.)
—Yves Brayer (1907-1990,) one of the important representational painters of 20th century, he settled at Cordes and organized the “Academy of Cordes.”
—André Verdet (1913-2004,) poet and painter, friend of Picasso, who lived in Cordes in the 60s and donated to the Art Museum part of personal work and his collection – Picasso, Leger, Miro, Klee, Arman, etc.
—Annie Gagnaire (1911-1997,) a painter who never sought publicity, but who participated in many international exhibitions. She lived at Penne (near Cordes) from 1942 to 1970.
—Finally, the “local” Francis Meunier (1924-1995,) one of the 11 artists (neo-surrealists) selected by Maurice Baskine for the great exhibition “COMME” in Paris, 1948.
We must also add that a great number of poets, writers, artists, designers, and ceramic artists worked and still work in Cordes-sur-Ciel and its environs, and contribute to the creation of a cultural and artistic tradition. (It’s not accidental that the French people in 2014 selected Cordes-sur-Ciel as the most popular village of their country.)
The collective memory will hold forever André Breton’s visit to Occitania and his pilgrimage to the fort Montsegur, a place connected to the besieged Cathars and their annihilation by fire. It becomes even clearer, then, that Cordes is a special place for the complicated surrealist adventure. Of course, for many, the history of surrealism is connected to Paris, with the fight for domination and the clashes of personality of the protagonists (like that of André Breton) and with the political connection to the communist movement during the first half of the 20th century. However, there is a great number of groups and of initiatives that show the creative potential available to the members of the surrealist movement, but also of the geographical and aesthetic differentiation of their work and perspectives. Cordes and its Museum prove the untenability of simplifications and stereotypes in the history of surrealism [3].
“Unpredictable appearances”
The History of the Cathars haunts southern France, even today. A certain dogma has been in effect in France, that of: “one nation, one language, one religion,” which in practice means France, with Paris in the place of honor, French language and Catholicism. In a Europe of regions and areas (regional Europe,) the territorial claims of different regions, such as Catalonia and the territory of the Basques, find a new legitimacy in European scale, something that has been noticed in Occitania, where after 1980 the demand has been expressed for recognition of the cultural singularity (e.g. in language.) Of course, the Occitan language in its oral form is only spoken in a few villages (wine producing ones) and in the written form only by a few poets who have always written In Occitan. (See Serge Pey, “Nihil et Consolamentum. Bâtons et poèmes cathares,” Délit Press, 2009. Bilingual edition, Translation of the poems from French to Occitan by Alem Surre Garcia. The book focuses in the tragic fate and the theology of the Cathars.)
Today the language is taught in schools, in parallel with French, and it is hoped that it will get additional prestige when universities start offering full study programs in Occitan. In this renaissance, the history of the “Cathars” plays a symbolic role, as it is referred to as an act of resistance to the authority of the King (Paris) and the Pope (Rome.) Undoubtedly, the history of the Cathars is very intricate and complicated since it involves theological, political, economic and military issues. It is impossible to give a (necessarily schematic) synopsis of the historic phenomenon. What must be stressed is that the Cathars declared their Christianity, and indeed in a form much closer to the pure proto-Christian ideal, that they had developed economic activities and mercantile networks as excellent artisans (e.g. textile workers,) that they did not accept the central authority (King – Pope,) that they considered the Medieval authority as something not based in Christian texts and Christian faith, they were against the taxation forced by the feudal lords, they were vegetarians, their cultural models were connected to apocryphal, gnostic or agnostic movements such as Manicheanism, Zoroastrianism, Paulinism, etc. From what can be ascertained, only 5% of the general population followed those models of spiritual and communal life, which are referred to as dyadic monotheism (10th-14th century.) The theological issues become here extremely complex to be mentioned in passing. The ethical glow and the decisiveness of the “heretics,” according to the terminology of the subsequent winners, was very pronounced, and it was the reason that the powers that be of the time fearing an explosive spread of the Cathar ideals decided on a violent intervention. That is, their example was so powerful that only their physical extermination would appease the powers that be. The spiritual leader of the containment forces was Bernard de Clairvaux, in charge of the all-powerful network of Cistercian monasteries, who demonstrated that the Cathar problem could only be solved by the sword, since “they” were incapable of learning proper Christian behavior. Indeed, when, during the siege of Carcassone, the issue came up of how to recognize the Cathars in the imminent slaughter, the order was given to annihilate the entire population of the city and let God recognize his own people. Of course, a few did survive by fleeing, but others preferred to fall on their own to the pyre. Images of total violence and cruelty.
For an elementary completion of the mosaic, a few more points must be added. In 1204, [right after the fall of Constantinople to the rubble of the 4th Holy Land’s Crusade,] the Cathars organized for the first time a mechanism for the creation of business associations with shares and they created a process of “bank investment” for the business enterprises of the artisans. But how did those religio-cultural models get to the south of France? There are many hypotheses: population movements, nomadic or not, between “East” and “West” never stopped, moreover, the tribes of masons who built churches in the Romanesque style, from Asia Minor to the Atlantic, carried the torch of their symbolic and spiritual restlessness. Also, the hypothesis of the Bogomils has been formulated. But why did the Manichean models were accepted with such readiness in south France? Many theories: The resistance to feudal authority was compatible with the proposition of emancipation from the church, the importance of local origin (the troubadours were already composing their works in Occitan language) and on the other hand the great distance from the centers of authority with their Latin language, the strong tradition of the way cities function in the South (tolerance, participation in the system of governance… which was handed down by the Greeks and the Romans.) Finally, a renaissance of the church of the Cathars is being observed today in the South of France, but mainly in the USA and the Latin America.
In conclusion, what is important here is to point out that there is a different tradition, spiritual, ideological and cultural, which, even if historically defeated, has followed many different paths for its survival. It may be called “gnostic,” “apocryphal,” “alchemistic,” “mystic,” or “oral-ritualistic” tradition. (Indeed, recently, the French state has officially recognized for the first time the network of “Gnostic” churches.) What is interesting here is the fact that the surrealist movement has developed a dialog with that tradition. At the same time, the Maison des Surréalistes and the publisher Rafael de Surtis make a constant effort to print, record and research the dialog between surrealism and alchemy. It was not accidental that André Breton had visited the area [pilgrimage to Montsegur, as has already been mentioned,] and many surrealists have found a welcome place in Occitania and specifically in the triangle of Albi – Toulouse – Carcassone.
A book by Bruno Geneste and Paul Sanda (“Les surréalistes et la Bretagne,” Editinter) was published in 2015, dealing with the relationship of the surrealists with the history, the mythology and the landscape of Brittany. (André Breton had come from this area.) Also, the significance of the Celtic tradition in the formation of surrealism is documented in a systematic way. It seems as if the surrealism constitutes a tool of resistance of the Celtic singularity against models that come from the Greco-Roman invasion to the land of granite and the swells of the Atlantic. The political tinge, the Parisian coating, the cosmopolitan tendency of surrealism develops dialogs, but also is nurtured by the myths, the music and the rituals of the Britons, as also by the tradition of the troubadours, the gnostic influences and the mysteries, alchemical or not, of Occitania. (Indeed, after Brexit and the movement toward Scottish secession from Great Britain – United Kingdom, a similar movement was created by the Britons in relation to the “State of Paris.”) It is amazing how the artistic and cultural trends emerge, are reshaped and gain a reputation in the passing of centuries. Only an art event or a political change is necessary and then the cultural trends intertwine with new ways and appear in an unforeseen arrangement of the social horizon.
The phrase: “The 21st century will definitely be about religion,” haunts the everyday life of the people in our planet. The quest for spiritualities, the fundamentalism, the radicalization, the fanaticism, the “religious hatred,” all assume central stage in the dialogs and the agonies of the people of the world. So, a poetry Festival in an environment that historically exudes the great conflicts of religious and cultural character (the Cathars) or of artistic character (surrealism,) constitutes a great opportunity for a reassessment and analysis of the ambiguous perspectives of the collective future in a local as well as an international level.
Cordes was first established in 1222 A.D., it prospered in the 13th-14th century and it is connected to the dramatic history of the “Cathars” – “the Cathari” – “the Pure,” (from the Greek “κatharos”) and with all the dramatic maelstrom of that “Edenic” place on the north side of the Pyrenees. More specifically, Cordes was built in order to shelter the populations of the villages destroyed by the 4th Crusade against the Albigenses (the residents of Albi) around 1209-1218. The campaign of the kings of Paris and the Pope had as its goal the annihilation of the Cathars (2nd Crusade 1224-1243) as heretic Christians – they called themselves “the good-the select-the perfect people,” but for the other inhabitants of the South of France the operative word was “the good people.” When the protestants arrived to the South, the people there thought that “the good people” had come again. (For a brief history of the Cathar adventure, see: www.histoire-france.net/moyen/cathares)
The reason of this search for the tragic fate of the “Cathars – Cathari” was the 8th “Festival International de Poésie Actuelle” (7/8-9/2016) organized by the Médiathèque in the area of Cordes and La Maison des Surréalistes. A number of institutions support this Festival, such as the City Hall, the publishing house Rafael de Surtis, etc. This Festival is closely connected to the history of Cordes-sur-Ciel, both extended and very recent, since a coincidence of events connected Cordes to the surrealists.
Three indices might help one understand the peculiarity of this Festival:
a) During the prosperity period of Cordes (13th – 14th century) wonderful Gothic palaces were built, having excellent decorations in the public, exterior surfaces, picturing many animals (real and imaginary) – besides, there is a rich bibliography dealing with this particularity. But, as this little city was spared during the hundred-year war, these palaces offer a great opportunity for a cultural and tourist activity at Cordes-sur-Ciel.
b) This small city (of 1,100 residents today, as opposed to the 5,000 residents during its “glorious” era,) has Public Record Offices, a Library, a Sugar and Chocolate Museum and the Museum of Contemporary Fine Arts with emphasis on the surrealist movement, which is housed at La Maison du Grand Fauconnier, with its 14th century façade, its ground floor archways, the sculptures at the high cornice, its 15th century courtyard and its beautiful staircase.
c) Cordes is connected to the upheavals and the clashes in the name of religion and ideas and more specifically, with the tendencies (heretical or not, according to the predominant Catholic view) of Christian religion, the apocryphal traditions, with spiritual movements, alchemy, the oral tradition, and the autonomous organizations. So, the course of Cordes moves between mystical trends, mystery and the Mysteries – in the Ancient Greek sense.
Why such a strong presence of surrealism in this small city of Cordes-sur-Ciel? To begin with, the city exudes with ample clarity the transition from the Middle ages to the Renaissance, since it was established as a “Bastide,” not as a fortified city, but a city able to develop in space and time, without its fortification being excluded: a city for commerce and not for defensive goals, which as a settlement/city-planning choice, was developed after the 13th century. The larger buildings-palaces belonged to the merchants and to a few aristocrats and more specifically to those who traded in the color “pastel” (a blue color that comes from the yellow flowers of a local plant[2]) textile factories (e,g, bed sheets) and leather – period of power 1280-1380 A.D. Because of historic events and realignments – new trade routes, opening of the canal of the South (Canal de Midi, 17th century, connecting the Atlantic to the Mediterranean) – Cordes was “forgotten” but it kept its character, which became a strong magnet for artists, writers and poets to settle in this city of “earthly magic.”
More specifically, of the artists who (in the 20th century) chose Cordes as their way of life and art production, most came from the surrealist movement.
—Maurice Baskine (1901-1968,) member of the surrealist group, withdraws in 1951 and follows a solitary path combining surrealism and “Art Brut” with inspiration from alchemy, which he called “fantasophy” (fantasophie.)
—Yves Brayer (1907-1990,) one of the important representational painters of 20th century, he settled at Cordes and organized the “Academy of Cordes.”
—André Verdet (1913-2004,) poet and painter, friend of Picasso, who lived in Cordes in the 60s and donated to the Art Museum part of personal work and his collection – Picasso, Leger, Miro, Klee, Arman, etc.
—Annie Gagnaire (1911-1997,) a painter who never sought publicity, but who participated in many international exhibitions. She lived at Penne (near Cordes) from 1942 to 1970.
—Finally, the “local” Francis Meunier (1924-1995,) one of the 11 artists (neo-surrealists) selected by Maurice Baskine for the great exhibition “COMME” in Paris, 1948.
We must also add that a great number of poets, writers, artists, designers, and ceramic artists worked and still work in Cordes-sur-Ciel and its environs, and contribute to the creation of a cultural and artistic tradition. (It’s not accidental that the French people in 2014 selected Cordes-sur-Ciel as the most popular village of their country.)
The collective memory will hold forever André Breton’s visit to Occitania and his pilgrimage to the fort Montsegur, a place connected to the besieged Cathars and their annihilation by fire. It becomes even clearer, then, that Cordes is a special place for the complicated surrealist adventure. Of course, for many, the history of surrealism is connected to Paris, with the fight for domination and the clashes of personality of the protagonists (like that of André Breton) and with the political connection to the communist movement during the first half of the 20th century. However, there is a great number of groups and of initiatives that show the creative potential available to the members of the surrealist movement, but also of the geographical and aesthetic differentiation of their work and perspectives. Cordes and its Museum prove the untenability of simplifications and stereotypes in the history of surrealism [3].
The History of the Cathars haunts southern France, even today. A certain dogma has been in effect in France, that of: “one nation, one language, one religion,” which in practice means France, with Paris in the place of honor, French language and Catholicism. In a Europe of regions and areas (regional Europe,) the territorial claims of different regions, such as Catalonia and the territory of the Basques, find a new legitimacy in European scale, something that has been noticed in Occitania, where after 1980 the demand has been expressed for recognition of the cultural singularity (e.g. in language.) Of course, the Occitan language in its oral form is only spoken in a few villages (wine producing ones) and in the written form only by a few poets who have always written In Occitan. (See Serge Pey, “Nihil et Consolamentum. Bâtons et poèmes cathares,” Délit Press, 2009. Bilingual edition, Translation of the poems from French to Occitan by Alem Surre Garcia. The book focuses in the tragic fate and the theology of the Cathars.)
Today the language is taught in schools, in parallel with French, and it is hoped that it will get additional prestige when universities start offering full study programs in Occitan. In this renaissance, the history of the “Cathars” plays a symbolic role, as it is referred to as an act of resistance to the authority of the King (Paris) and the Pope (Rome.) Undoubtedly, the history of the Cathars is very intricate and complicated since it involves theological, political, economic and military issues. It is impossible to give a (necessarily schematic) synopsis of the historic phenomenon. What must be stressed is that the Cathars declared their Christianity, and indeed in a form much closer to the pure proto-Christian ideal, that they had developed economic activities and mercantile networks as excellent artisans (e.g. textile workers,) that they did not accept the central authority (King – Pope,) that they considered the Medieval authority as something not based in Christian texts and Christian faith, they were against the taxation forced by the feudal lords, they were vegetarians, their cultural models were connected to apocryphal, gnostic or agnostic movements such as Manicheanism, Zoroastrianism, Paulinism, etc. From what can be ascertained, only 5% of the general population followed those models of spiritual and communal life, which are referred to as dyadic monotheism (10th-14th century.) The theological issues become here extremely complex to be mentioned in passing. The ethical glow and the decisiveness of the “heretics,” according to the terminology of the subsequent winners, was very pronounced, and it was the reason that the powers that be of the time fearing an explosive spread of the Cathar ideals decided on a violent intervention. That is, their example was so powerful that only their physical extermination would appease the powers that be. The spiritual leader of the containment forces was Bernard de Clairvaux, in charge of the all-powerful network of Cistercian monasteries, who demonstrated that the Cathar problem could only be solved by the sword, since “they” were incapable of learning proper Christian behavior. Indeed, when, during the siege of Carcassone, the issue came up of how to recognize the Cathars in the imminent slaughter, the order was given to annihilate the entire population of the city and let God recognize his own people. Of course, a few did survive by fleeing, but others preferred to fall on their own to the pyre. Images of total violence and cruelty.
In conclusion, what is important here is to point out that there is a different tradition, spiritual, ideological and cultural, which, even if historically defeated, has followed many different paths for its survival. It may be called “gnostic,” “apocryphal,” “alchemistic,” “mystic,” or “oral-ritualistic” tradition. (Indeed, recently, the French state has officially recognized for the first time the network of “Gnostic” churches.) What is interesting here is the fact that the surrealist movement has developed a dialog with that tradition. At the same time, the Maison des Surréalistes and the publisher Rafael de Surtis make a constant effort to print, record and research the dialog between surrealism and alchemy. It was not accidental that André Breton had visited the area [pilgrimage to Montsegur, as has already been mentioned,] and many surrealists have found a welcome place in Occitania and specifically in the triangle of Albi – Toulouse – Carcassone.
A book by Bruno Geneste and Paul Sanda (“Les surréalistes et la Bretagne,” Editinter) was published in 2015, dealing with the relationship of the surrealists with the history, the mythology and the landscape of Brittany. (André Breton had come from this area.) Also, the significance of the Celtic tradition in the formation of surrealism is documented in a systematic way. It seems as if the surrealism constitutes a tool of resistance of the Celtic singularity against models that come from the Greco-Roman invasion to the land of granite and the swells of the Atlantic. The political tinge, the Parisian coating, the cosmopolitan tendency of surrealism develops dialogs, but also is nurtured by the myths, the music and the rituals of the Britons, as also by the tradition of the troubadours, the gnostic influences and the mysteries, alchemical or not, of Occitania. (Indeed, after Brexit and the movement toward Scottish secession from Great Britain – United Kingdom, a similar movement was created by the Britons in relation to the “State of Paris.”) It is amazing how the artistic and cultural trends emerge, are reshaped and gain a reputation in the passing of centuries. Only an art event or a political change is necessary and then the cultural trends intertwine with new ways and appear in an unforeseen arrangement of the social horizon.
The phrase: “The 21st century will definitely be about religion,” haunts the everyday life of the people in our planet. The quest for spiritualities, the fundamentalism, the radicalization, the fanaticism, the “religious hatred,” all assume central stage in the dialogs and the agonies of the people of the world. So, a poetry Festival in an environment that historically exudes the great conflicts of religious and cultural character (the Cathars) or of artistic character (surrealism,) constitutes a great opportunity for a reassessment and analysis of the ambiguous perspectives of the collective future in a local as well as an international level.
English translation by Angelos Sakkis.
__________
Notes:
[1] See Paul Sanda “Cordes-sur-Ciel. Cité Mysterieuse.” Rafael de Surtis/ Editinter, FR. 2016.
[2] Isatis tinctorial – (pasta / pâte pastel – in Occitan. With pastel, the natural blue color is made, as well as medicines and cosmetics. (See www.terredepastel.com/le-pastel.) The processing of the plant resulted in a little “ball,” “coca” in French, which was also a gold-bearing product. That is also corroborated by the expression “Pays de cocagne” which means the land of plenty or paradise on earth. There are different versions of the expression throughout Europe. See also “Le pays de Cocagne,” by Pieter Breughel the Elder (1567). I have used a ceramic blue ball for my Performance. “Empedocles. 4 elements, earth” [http://tapin2.org/quatre-elements-d-empedocle].
[3] All this information comes from the publications and the texts of the Museum.
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