Diplôme Supérieur d’Arts Appliqués Lyon

École Supérieure d’Arts Appliqués La Martinière Diderot

From time to time, words come back from Belgium

Onboard with Homeless People
la péniche

By Alexia Devillert

alexia.devillert@wanadoo.fr

Tossed around by the waves of the Rhône, the « Balajo », a houseboat and shelter for homeless people, offers hospitality to homeless men and women every day. The crew organizes themselves to « welcome the people and create a link » in order to help them to regain their footing.

After several months of immersion, I became aware of the need for passengers to invest more in the place they frequent. Thus, through my project, I aimed at making people active in their relationship to the place and to allow them to become aware of their power to act.

It is a research around the question of identity: that of a place, that of the people who are there. The visual forms that result are evolving, constantly changing. They are built, rebuilt, and they live to the rhythm of the passengers who frequent the houseboat.

alexia.devillert@wanadoo.fr