Three hills, a road, two rivers and also a bridge is the continuation of a collaboration between the Centre photographique Rouen Normandie and the Centre Normandie-Lorraine (Le Mesnil-Esnard, Seine-Maritime), a resource center for the visually impaired east of Rouen. For over 25 years, a tactile and sound fresco had been installed in a corridor used every day by the center’s staff, children and their families. The fresco was worn out and out of use. The Centre Photographique therefore proposed a residency project, led by Sophie Grassart, to design a new sensory installation by and for the children.

For two months, the artist worked with three groups of children to create an eight-meter-long bas-relief. Together, they manipulated a variety of materials to create tactile surfaces: colored rice and semolina, paper pulp, paint, clay, enamels and wood. The result embodies the children’s perception of the landscape surrounding the Centre Normandie-Lorraine, composed (among other things) of three hills, a road, two rivers and a bridge.

Again guided by Sophie Grassart, the children were also able to cook and create an invitation to the opening of their fresco on May 12, 2023, inviting their families to a colorful tea party.

Three hills, a road, two rivers and also a bridge is a series of workshops led by artist Sophie Grassart with beneficiaries of the Centre Normandie-Lorraine, April-May 2023.

The project is supported by the Centre photographique Rouen Normandie, and co-financed by the Centre Normandie-Lorraine, the Agence régionale de santé Normandie and the Direction régionale des affaires culturelles de Normandie, as part of the “Culture, santé et médico-social” program.