Men and giants, 2024
They dance under the skirts of their giants, observing the world through a small opening, these balancing carriers play with gravity. Whirling in the heart of the crowd captivated by these immense characters straight from the past.
Giant bearers appear with the creation of giants. This is a real challenge when we know that giants can weigh up to 130 kilos. Each giant is accompanied by its group of carriers who take turns to move it forward or dance. In the 19th century, porters were recruited from working-class circles.
The Gayant de Douai (the largest) was created in 1530 by the corporation of basket makers. Giants appear in urban religious processions in Western European cities from the end of the 14th century or the beginning of the 15th century. Founding giant, warrior or representative of a small trade, animal or marginal, giants of the mine or the coast, giant of Flanders
Their mysterious origins lead to daydreaming. Because these wicker bellies make young and old dream, they exorcise sorrows and torments, with the support, sometimes of a colorful escort. There are nearly 300 of them in the Hauts de France region. Out of the workshops of giant factors, a profession in danger of disappearing. Basket makers and moulders, they work with wicker for the structure and molding for the head. Magical and spectacular, the Giants symbolize the soul of a city united in the same jubilation, each one considering the Giants with the tenderness that we devote to our ancestors, the common part of a long history.
Childhood games are not far away, a form of freedom during a procession or a carnival. We make faces, we hide, we play at scaring each other. I was born on July 9, Gayant’s feast day in Douai in Hauts de France. On my third birthday, I was sick and my grandmother managed to bring the Gayants over to dance in front of her window.
Men and giants is a bit of my story.
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