For fifty years, the city of Grasse has adorned itself in May with thousands of roses. The event, Expo Rose, serves as an ode to beauty and cultural heritage while also paying tribute to the region’s rose growers. The 51st edition of Expo Rose, themed around the sentiment of love, will unfold in the Grasse region from May 18th to 21st, 2023. Three talented artists will exhibit their lyrical works inspired by the theme of the rose at the Maison de Parfums Galimard, under the guidance of Chantal Roux. The inauguration will take place on May 19th at 5pm, in the presence of the mayor of Grasse.
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How can one speak of the rose without thinking of Grasse, a land brimming with thousands of floral cultivations, particularly roses, or of Ronsard, whose poem “Mignonne, allons voir si la rose” is an anthem to ephemeral and thus priceless beauty?
Since 1971, the Rose Festival in May has been a major event for Grasse, a tradition, and a tribute to the local producers and rose growers. It is also a celebration of its cultural heritage. Four days of festivities will unfold in the heart of the city, adorned with the most beautiful floral arrangements and pink umbrellas suspended above the pedestrian streets of the old town. In this moment where the people of Grasse excel in creative decorations, Chantal Roux, director of the Maison de Parfums Galimard, has gone all out. She has invited three renowned artists to each exhibit about thirty of their artistic creations, centered around the theme of the rose, amidst the majestic alembics.
As a reminder, in the 16th century, Grasse was teeming with tanneries that generated strong odors. To mask them, leather had to be coated with flower-scented oils. It was thus that the glove-makers and perfumers developed their trade, fields were covered with rose bushes, jasmine, and tuberoses to supply the perfumers’ alembics, the corporation of master glove-maker perfumers emerged, and finally, in 1747, Jean de Galimard founded the perfumery. Over the years, the production of fragrant oils became more lucrative, and in the 18th century, a true industry blossomed: the production of raw materials in the southeast region, where the mild climate facilitated the cultivation of fragrant flowers. The extraction of essences was also developed, earning Grasse the nickname of the world’s perfume capital.
Under Chantal Roux’s impetus, the exhibition will showcase the exceptional works of three talented artists with boundless imagination, inspired by the floral compositions of Maison Galimard and particularly the May rose, or centifolia, one of the few, along with the Damask rose, used in perfumery.
For those fortunate enough to visit the Grasse region, you will have the opportunity to meet, during this exhibition, the artist, illustrator, and graphic novel scriptwriter Virginie Broquet, whose canvases have been displayed in France and abroad. Like a foraging butterfly, she has captured the roses in her garden, emphasizing the delicate nature of the queen of flowers: “These are images from the flowers in my garden that I’ve been drawing daily for the twenty years I’ve lived in the hills of Nice, following the rhythm of blooms and seasons where colors and shapes transform under my black stroke and multicolored palette. What a joy to rediscover them each year, the same yet always surprising! I also enjoy capturing the life of a beautiful bouquet offered by friends who know me well. Time alters each petal, causing the stem to bend and the warm color to fade. Time passes, the flower fades…” she explains.
Artist Tony Szabo, a painter and watercolorist whose canvases were hung in 2022 at the Maison de France in Monaco during an exhibition dedicated to the gardens of the principality, will display his watercolors in a whirlwind of fragrant scents. “My approach is purely artistic. It seemed interesting to participate in Expo Rose, especially since I have already worked on the gardens of Monaco. It is mainly about continuity,” he says.
An artistic exchange between Tony Szabo and Gilles Montelatici, a poet-scenographer and cultural designer, has nourished the inspiration of both artists for several years. Gilles Montelatici had designed several exhibitions, including that of Monaco’s gardens, accompanying his friend’s watercolors with his haikus. For Expo Rose, at the Maison Galimard, the poet-scenographer explains his approach: “I will first present the theme of the rose as a dreamlike journey, evoking the various varieties of the rose. My haikus will accompany Tony’s watercolors. And there will also be a didactic display about the world of the rose.”
Here are two haikus as examples:
“At the edge of a dream, holding this rose in its mirror of stars.”
“The rose knows its fate
The dew as well, becoming so delicate.”