Terres battantes

Created from 91 ceramic tiles, Terres battantes draws inspiration from both the tradition of the well-known Delft tiles* and the recent protests by farmers, while rooting this reflection in the memories of traditional rural life.

Terres battantes highlights the resilience and struggle of farmers against economic, political and environmental pressures. The depicted scenes alternate between representations of protests and farmers’ marches into the city, as well as moments of farm life full of tenderness and remembrance. Each tile tells a story, a scene, a memory, and allows for the reconstruction, piece by piece, of the history of a transforming world.

The title, Terres battantes, refers to this dual tension: on one hand, the land that shakes under the effort of the men and women who cultivate it; on the other, the land that fights against the injustice and the violence it endures. It is a cry of solidarity and resistance, but also a tribute to the deep roots of agriculture and the legacy of working the soil.

With this collection of tiles, I sought to capture a moment in history, between the memory of the past and the urgency of the present, while inviting the viewer to reflect on the contemporary challenges tied to the future of our lands.

*Delft tiles, with their traditional blue-and-white aesthetic, are emblematic objects that evoke a strong cultural and artisanal heritage from Flanders and northern countries, associated with representations of landscapes, scenes of daily life and historical events during their rise in the 17^th century.