This is the story of an 18th century Indian dancer, whose portrait is in Bhuj (Gujarat).
This dazzling painting under glass is embedded in a wall of the Aina Mahal (Palace of Mirrors),
the most dilapidated and also the most poetic of the Indian palaces I have visited.
In January 2001, Bhuj suffered a major earthquake,
and the images of the city on television left no doubt about the fate of my dilapidated palace.
So I painted my “Méchants Oiseaux” in gold on blue to frame a postcard,
as a tribute to this defunct palace and to the victims of natural violence …
… and I hung them in the entrance of the house in Marrakech.
Years later, to my great surprise I learned that this sublime ruin had resisted the earthquake,
while the entire city was nothing but rubble, … and the Indian dancer painted under glass survived too!
In September 2023, Marrakech also suffered an earthquake.
The house was shaken badly, but the Indian dancer in the entrance survived once again!
Since then, she has become like a symbol of resilience for me,
perhaps protected by another and very discreet Indian intruder in a small niche on the roofs.
And even if deep down I don’t believe it, I like to tell myself stories where these sort of kind signs bring comfort.
