In 2018, l’Association Mémoire Patrimoine et Activités de la Voie d’Eau (AMPAVE-Preserving the Memory, Heritage and Life of the Waterway) sought to commission an art project as part of its efforts to raise awareness of the ecological issues surrounding inland waterway transport
More than a mere profession, life on the waterways has its own distinctive rhythm, flowing with the currents. Today, this way of life is evolving rapidly, shaped by the increasing global industrialisation of inland waterway transport and the arrival of the Seine-Nord Europe Canal. It is a unique was of life that urgently calls for documentation.
AMPAVE has two main activities: collecting the archives of life on the waterways and passing on the knowledge of this time-honoured craft. From their base opposite the water station in Douai’s Dorignies district, the association’s members aim to inspire younger generations to consider a career in traditional boatmanship—a form of transport that is both sustainable and relevant to address the current environmental crisis, but it is also a way of life that is under threat. The art commission was intended to sensitively convey the “life on the boat” while preserving memories of the past to help shape the future.
After spending time aboard a barge with some of the commissioners, Cléa Coudsi and Eric Herbin conceived a work in three parts: an installation, a film and a book. The installation comprises six polished stainless-steel panels. Set within photographs of landscapes are cut-out barges in kit-model style—fragile elements that can be torn, folded, and assembled into a boat. The forms evoke both the “breaking up” of a barge and the model-making passion shared by many boatmen. The film captures the boatmen’s singular perspective on their environment, revealing a way of seeing, shaped by life on the waterways. Finally, in response to the request for an educational tool, the duo created an artist’s book with photographs of the project printed on detachable pieces that can be assembled into a miniature model barge.
