While browsing the book "Chafré, un photographe aux Pyrénées, Aulus-Les-Bains, 1880-1914" in the media library of Aulus-les-Bains, this village hidden among the Pyrenees mountains, I found a window into the past, into the silent history of this place.
The photograph entitled "Les Grandes Solitudes de l'Étang d'Aubé" caught my eye and made me reflect on the many lives that passed through there, each one aware of their own existence amidst the grandeur of the mountains and the apparent tranquility of the village.
As I looked at this image, I imagined the countless souls who passed through these lands, especially during one of the darkest periods in modern history. Aulus-les-Bains, with its serene beauty, was a last refuge for many Jewish families fleeing Nazism. Although they found temporary safety by migrating there, on a Wednesday morning they were deported to Auschwitz, marking this small piece of land as a witness to a great and tragic moment in human history.
Photo by Natália Gondim (⍭⍜t⍷m)
There is a bitter irony in the idea that such a remote and seemingly peaceful place could have been the scene of such dramatic events. Time, relentless, continues its course, transforming these moments into memories and these memories into part of the landscape. But the weight of these stories remains, embedded in the earth, in the trees, in the waters of the Étang d'Aubé .
Contemplating this place, as a witness to so many lives that have passed through there, generates a feeling of profound respect for the immensity that is life and the uninterrupted nature of our History.
Sharing this experience in an audiovisual collaboration workshop led by the artistic duo @hamill_industries brought me the feeling of connection and continuity that art, like history, plays when capturing and transmitting the essence of specific moments, keeping them alive in the memory of those who traveled in different time to this place.
Photo by @hamill_industries
The soundtrack of Alambari by DakhaBrakha, echoes this mix of beauty and sadness in the present and past of this place, creating the soundtrack for this emotional journey that guided me through time and space as I visited and took an inner dive to encountering the spirit of Aulus-les-Bains.
You can watch ⏂ The Great Solitudes of Lake Aubé, and subscribe to our newsletter for upcoming posts about the creative processes behind Reparadoc!
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Por Natália Gondim (⍭⍜t⍷m)
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