Ceremony of the olive tree
designed with Anaïs Silvestro
in collaboration with Daniel Pescio
video by Léa Troulard
Abbaye de Maubuisson
2022
Learning that a new history of olive oil is unfolding thousands of kilometers from its roots in Japan, Luz and Anaïs left for three months in 2019 for an artistic residency at Villa Kujoyama - one of the branches of the French Institute in Japan, with the idea to create a project that will honor the olive tree and the fruit of its harvests.
Following their two-week stay on the island of Shōdoshima alongside olive growers, the two visual designers return to Kyoto with many raw materials from the olive tree and then create objects from the same olive trees that produced the oils. of olives brought back, like ceramics enamelled with olive ash.
The discovery of Japanese arts and customs that celebrate nature and match the seasons, in particular the tea ceremony, is decisive in the orientation of the project. This then moves towards the format of an “olive tree ceremony” (オリーブ 道 “Orību-dō”) thought of as a sensory journey. The 5 senses are solicited by the encounter with the space, the objects, the dishes and the dishes which punctuate the experience and immerse the guests in the universe of the olive tree.
To respect the history and the cycle of the fruit tree, the “path” in this ceremony is taken in silence through 8 chapters. By following the master of ceremonie, whose gestures and gaze serve as a guide, the guests first discover the wood and the leaves. The flower and then the fruit then appear. Finally, the ceremony ends with the tasting of olive oil and recipes bringing together different seasonal ingredients. Thus, the olive tree is tasted, breathed, caressed and appreciated without words to reconnect with the present moment and the surrounding noises.
