Burgundy’s Wildly Colorful Multidisciplinary Festival, Feÿ
A 17th century chateau comes to life with exhibitions and performances
Over the weekend of 20-22 September, the town of Villecien, France played host to Feÿ, an art festival in its second year. Taking place at the stunning 17th century Chateau du Feÿ, the three-day event is a multidisciplinary affair that bridges the present and the past through visual arts, music, performance, architecture, film and food. Across 40 acres in the Burgundy region—inside the chateau and over its hilltop terrace and lush gardens—various artists and collectives displayed inspiring, thoughtful, clever and delightfully surprising pieces.
Within the chateau, collective MORPH challenged both artistic form and function by creating strange and beautiful works designed for usability, from an abstract light source in the image of female reproductive organs to crawling 3D-printed bowls that seem to be made of fabric.
Artists Julie Villard and Simon Broussard took over one of the property’s barns, using the space as a sparse backdrop for otherworldly, mushroom-esque sculptures that appeared to be part human-made machine, part alien being.
Various functional takeovers enlivened the property, too. Examples included a netted wooden bar by Sina Momtaz and Toru Wada, a forest living room and scaffolded bar by Marc Leschelier, and the breakfast nook transformed into a mossy reading wonderland by architects Emmanuelle Agustoni, Marija Urbaite, and Sergio Torres Escobar.
Music permeated the grounds, as well, with performances curated by Berlin-based DJ Tarrou, who brought out lauded acts like Huerco S and Cerulean alongside the likes of Kohwi and Danse-Toujours.
Altogether, Feÿ felt like that of a highly creative sleepaway camp, and a sophisticated French countryside vacation. The results were charming, sometimes bewildering and always exciting—as becoming lost in the vast estate was an enjoyable risk. Inevitably, you would eventually stumble across a joyous, artistic happening for which you might not have been fully prepared.
Images by Kyle Raymond Fitzpatrick
