We had planned to see the Niki de Saint Phalle Exhibition on the 12th of January, but unprecedented events meant that we had to cancel…. however we didn’t let what happened stop us from visiting this exhibition we had been so eager to see! We all made our way to the Grand Palais independently on the 28th of January, hoping we wouldn’t have any problem staying together!
Véronique and I arrived to see parents and children in the Middle and Big Sections waiting in the queue to get into the exhibition. Children and parents alike were all smiles and excited to share this experience!
Before going in, we discussed a little of what we knew aboutNiki’s life. The children explained why Niki didn’t want tolive the life that was expected of her, about her childhood, that she wanted to do more than “fold and count sheets” all her life, they talked about her 2nd husband, Jean Tinguely and how they had worked together…
As we entered the exhibition itself, we saw that we were not alone! It was very busy, how would we able to sit together and discuss Niki’s oeuvres? Well somehow we managed it!
The children gazed in awe at Niki’s oeuvres…The works of art they had seen in books and they had recreated on paper so many times! “ c’est l’oeuvre de Niki pour de vrai!!!”
The moment we had been most looking forward to(speaking for myself, in any case) was seeing the Nanas…and more so, seeing the children’s reactions to the Nanas for the first time. They were mesmerised by the dancing Nanas glistening in the light and ‘skating’ to the sound of music.
This outing meant so much more to the children than it may have to children who hadn’t studied and heard stories about Niki de Saint Phalle like they did at La Maison de l’Enfant.
When it was time to leave, Lilou said “Je voudrais rester ici tout le temps! Je ne voudrais jamais partir!”
