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Yona Friedman1001 nuits + 1 jour

©2014 Yona Friedman and mfc-michèle didier

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Yona Friedman1001 nuits + 1 jour

Titles of the drawings

1. Les bacchantes (fatiguées)2. Le cheval de Troie3. L’enlèvement4. L’oiseau qui a pondu le monde5. Taureau-lune6. Adam et Eve et le crocodile7. Madame veut avoir une fourrure8. Les colosses à l’entrée du port de l’Atlantide9. Un malentendu: le lion ne veut que l’amour,

mais il fait peur 10. L’enterrement de minuit11. Chevalier du soleil12. Le centaure13. La chasse aux papillons14. Le chasseur et le rhinocéros discutent15. Sirène recroquevillée – la pauvre a mal au ventre16. Gilgamesh (ou Samson, au choix) avec le lion17. Femme à l’éléphant; Taureau-pard cyclope;

Femme et oiseau18. Le Paradis19. Andromède20. Bandit et victime future21. Diane dormante et les bergers22. Chasse au cerf23. Saint Georges24. La reine de l’océan25. Tauromachie26. Les Trois Grâces défendues par les lions27. Amour et Psyché28. Le bateau des femmes égaré dans le brouillard29. La femme est au plus fort, l’oiseau crie: «injustice!»30. Un poisson peut en cacher un autre31. Lune-taureau32. Les amants du banc public33. Diane a gardé sa chasteté34. Le soleil de nuit passe l’océan vers le matin35. Les amants hors de la ville36. Les sirènes à la plage37. La dormante au bord de la mer (+ 1 extrait)38. Idylle avec lion39. La ville des morts40. Chameau41. Chasse à l’âme (papillon)42. Osiris mort43. Jonas et l’oiseau44. Amour de lion45. L’oiseau qui a pondu le monde46. Atlantis47. Chasse au taureau48. Lion au désert pourpre49. Le Paradis, avec licorne50. Terrasse de café avec musicien tsigane51. Femme-taureau avec l’œil du ciel52. Chasse au buffle53. Porte-corne chinois; Elfe54. Masque aux hiéroglyphes; Jongleuse55. Sioux et Cheyennes56. L’arche de Noé57. Allégorie au sens caché58. Chevalier à la ville morte59. Isis et Osiris60. La naissance de …61. Chevauchée au poisson62. Scènes aux dragons (+ 3 extraits)63. Adam et Eve ont peur du serpent; La beauté de la ligne64. Danseuses; Napoléon avec pigeon voyageur65. L’amour, tout court (4 sur la même planche)66. Cheval diaphane

67. Chasses (+ 1 extrait) 68. Deux femmes (+ 1 extrait)69. La flute enchantée70. La ville interdite71. La ville aux 2 collines72. Ville sur le fleuve73. Venise74. La grande place, sans chiens75. Grande rue, impasse76. Ville spatiale autour de Morro77. Hathipore78. Atlantis79. La Seine à Paris80. Rialto81. L’oiseau de la ville82. Héliopolis 183. Héliopolis 284. Cour d’honneur85. Chioggia86. Ville spatiale avec 70787. Oasis sans désert88. Le jardin de Tombouctou89. Samba Gana90. Le serpent d’Issa Ber91. Les moissonneurs du Djolliba92. Samba Gana à Ségou93. Samba Gana et le Djalli Tararafé94. Annalya Tou Bari95. Le taureau du Mwouetsi96. Les filles blanches (+ 1 extrait)97. La modernité (+ 1 extrait)98. La bataille des chevaux et des taureaux99. Don Quijote et Sancho Panza100. Don Quijote et Rocinante101. Celui sur le cheval et celui sur l’âne102. L’amant aux moulins à vent103. Annalya Tou Bari sur le tombeau de Samba Gana104. Oies blanches105. La nuit106. Isis et Osiris107. Dragons et dragons (+ 2 extraits)108. Les saints (+ 4 extraits)109. Danseuse grecque entre deux pachas (+ 2 extraits)110. La naissance de Hercule, avec taureaux (+ 2 extraits)111. L’oiseau de feu devant la ville (+ 2 extraits)112. La fille à 3 seins avec ses 3 pachas (+ 1 extrait)113. La bataille pour la ville114. Odalisques et serpentines (+ 1 extrait)115. La montagne animale: les fondations du monde116. Monstre pourchassé; Monstre chasseur117. Danseuse indienne et sa ville (+ 1 extrait)118. Le jour119. La montagne du soleil120. Fille attendant le « déviergeur »121. Annalya Tou Bari à la chasse122. Coque Licot123. Les gardiens du serpent et de l’aigle124. Procession dans la Ciudad Espacial125. Masque feutré126. Les bohémiennes (les sorcières)127. Singe-crocodile à deux têtes128. Un Mondorro 129. Poulette130. Constellations131. La lune132. La dame aux oiseaux133. L’antre du monde134. Soleil et lune

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Yona Friedman1001 nuits + 1 jour

About 1001 nuits + 1 jour by Yona Friedman

Animaux, Mythes, Villes, Contes nègres, Fragments, Miracles are the six revealing titles of the leading chapters of Yona Friedman’s illustrated tale 1001 nuits + 1 jour (litteraly: 1001 nights + 1 day), a new artist’s book produced and published by mfc-michèle didier this Spring 2014.

The drawings in 1001 nuits + 1 jour originally covered the walls of the architect’s first Parisian studio, on boulevard Pasteur. This decor designed in the 1960’s, was taken apart in 1968 when Friedman left the studio on boulevard Pasteur for his (now famous) apartment on boulevard Garibaldi. 168 drawings of them all are reproduced today in the artist’s book 1001 nuits + 1 jour. As for the new mural pattern of boulevard Garibaldi, a true “merzbau” of the 21st Century, it is now part of the CNAP collections.

Caroline Cros underlines « The question of decor is fundamental in Friedman’s case (...) he does not conceive architecture without the design of its decoration ».1 It is thus impossible for him to visualize his studio with empty walls, «what counts the most for him is to personalize his living space » she continues. « ...I have created my own world, in order to assimilate my lifestyle. I am convinced that everyone can do so» Yona Friedman confirms. This idea that each individual is responsible for the enhancement of his/her environment by being himself the subject of its evolution underlies all of Friedman’s thought process. He elaborated further on this principle in the manual A better life in towns, commissioned by the European Council in 1980 for a campaign on renewing the cities.

This is exactly what the architect focuses on in this book. He offers each of us the possibility to recreate the display with the drawings from his studio on boulevard Pasteur on our own walls. Indeed, all the drawings in 1001 nuits + 1 jour are detachable and can therefore recreate a decor. Depending on how they are laid out, new associations are born and new stories can be told. It is also possible to put the drawings back in the position in the book, where they were initially. Today, the colour of the drawings have faded slightly under the sunlight and the architect’s eye, only the most resistant pigments are left unchanged. We can only guess the initial rich variety of hues chosen by Friedman.

The studio on boulevard Pasteur was small, its surface measuring 27m2, but Yona Friedman’s imagination knew no boundaries. He broke free of this restrictive reality to reach other places drawn up by himself: places in which he would have liked to live – in Atlantis or in an oasis without desert (in reference to the title of the images, Atlantis and Oasis sans désert) – or with the delicious company of women, his girlfriends’ girlfriends, «les amies de mes amies», as the artists writes... Friedman also escapes by illustrating legends and made-up tales, twisted or readapted to his liking as we can see in the stories of Samba Gana à Ségou or that of saint George who Friedman confronts to a crocodile instead of a dragon. The book consists of 168 drawing-scenes illustrated in a « naïve » manner, his distinctive style that can be found equally in his animated film Les aventures de cheveux lion2. The African influence shows in his drawings as well as in his choice of subjects, although Yona Friedman does include the adventures of Don Quijote in the chapter Contes nègres. Such mixing of genres reflects the freedom of thought that the artist cherishes so. Myths merge with each other, the centaur meets Adam and Eve, Noah and Gilgamesh both face lions. In Friedman’s world as it is depicted in 1001 nuits + 1 jour, the traditional order of things is mixed up, the hunter and the rhinoceros chat with each other and the lion wants nothing but love, but he’s scary (in reference to the image entitled Le lion ne veut que l’amour, mais il fait peur). As for Men, they return to their animal state. In accordance with the architect’s classification, the lovers outside the city (Les amants hors de la ville), and many others, find their place next to the bulls, the horses and the birds, who are in turn associated with other legendary images: a lesson of synchretism and of equality offered once more by Yona Friedman.

1 Excerpts of Caroline Cros’ text written in the context of the exhibition Yona Friedman, des Utopies réalisées at Espace de l’Art Concret, centre d’art contemporain at Mouans-Sartoux in 2010. 2 Yona Friedman’s animated films have been restaured in 2008 by the cneai.

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Specifications

• artist's book in one volume• 286 pages and 4 cover pages• 34,2 x 24 cm• Japanese bookbinding

• Offset print on Heaven42 paper 150 g (inside) and 200 g (cover)

• Graphic design by Raymond Aubry, Brussels• Printed by Arte-Print, Brussels• Laser cut by Screen Group, Brussels• Bound by Laurel Parker, Paris

Yona Friedman1001 nuits + 1 jour

Production

• Limited edition of 75 copies and 25 artist's proofs • Certificate numbered and signed by the artist

Produced and published in 2014 by mfc-michèle didier All rights reserved. No part of this edition may be reproduced in any form or by any means without written permission of the artist and the publisher.