Museum of Textile Sculptures by Sylvie Clavel
A Parisian artist in Sambuca
Inside the former Church of San Sebastiano, on the lower level, there is a space entirely dedicated to a very special museum exhibit: a selection of textile sculptures by Sylvie Clavel, a French artist who lived in Sambuca for many years and still divides her time between her new home in Agrigento, where she overlooks the magnificent Valley of the Temples every day, and Paris. In Sambuca di Sicilia, a town with a solid tradition of embroidery and weaving, the Museum of Textile Sculptures by Sylvie Clavel serves as a bridge between the past and the present, and between different cultures, metaphorically and physically linked by a unique intertwining of knots and plant fibers created by the Parisian artist.
Sylvie Clavel, the artist of knots. From dance to weaving: a life steeped in art
Sylvie Clavel, born in Paris in 1953, has always been immersed in art. She began with dance, which she practiced from the age of 8 until she was 26, performing with major companies directed by Carolyn Carlson and Françoise Verdier. When an accident forced her to change direction, she taught yoga, traveling between Paris and America. It was there, in 1973, that an American friend gave her a book—"Macramé" by Dona Z. Meilach—where she discovered "the art of knots." Among its pages, she encountered the flat knot, the half hitch, and the monkey knot. She learned that cords and threads, tied together with the right tension, can form a desired shape or figure, and that for her, knotting is a simple and universal gesture. In Paris, under the guidance of Chilean artist Chacon Avilàra, she took up textile art, integrating the psychophysical dimension of being learned through dance practice, achieving unique results in the European art scene.
A Parisian artist in Sambuca
In the French capital, she exhibited her first works—already showcasing her unique technique—but fell in love and moved to Sicily, living for an extended period in Sambuca while working between the Sicilian village and Paris. It has been said of this extraordinary artist that "she is a woman in touch with an ineffable universe, capable of creating works of art, always with the end of a thread in her hand," but also that "she cooks, loves Sicily, and knows local foods and seasonalities better than those from the area." Through the creation of a museum for her textile sculptures, the village of Sambuca wanted to honor the artist with an exhibition space where her great art can be contemplated. The museum, originally established at the former Monastery of San Caterina, is now located in the space at the former Church of San Sebastiano and will soon be relocated to the former Church of San Calogero, which is currently under restoration.
Clavel's artworks: between knot art, African influences, nature, chaos, and ancestral knowledge
The works in the Museum of Textile Art by Sylvie Clavel are a selection of her magnificent fabric sculptures, centered on knotting and the intertwining of plant fibers, the result of slow and meticulous work. Her figures are anthropomorphic or animal, solemn, often monumental, in the soft colors of natural fibers: they are enormous Phoenicians, mothers, and timeless beings that Sylvie conjures from her mind and creates, thread by thread. A distinctive feature of these works is the face, crafted with tribal wooden masks made by artisans in Africa, where her brother lives. Their significant artistic value complements that of Sylvie Clavel's sculptures, resulting in a full expression of ancestral knowledge. Behind her works - as Sylvie herself says - there is "disorder, confusion, chaos, the 'not knowing what will happen' while respecting the creation process and the result (one needs the other), and this phase is full of unpredictable life: without strategies and calculations."