Forty-seventh Samsara, 2023, Trevira fabric, steel, approx. 10,5 × 10,5 m
It is supported and financed by Rubis Mécénat. It is supported by Kvadrat.
Courtesy of the artist and Rubis Mécénat.

The installation by British artist and designer Yemi Awosile is set around two storage tanks in the industrial port of Dunkirk. She drew her inspiration from geometric drawings found in the archives of the Roubaix textile industry. These ‘maps’ of drawings transferred onto squared sheets were used to prepare for weaving, and also mark the beginnings of the computer revolution. Mounted on a steel frame, the textile coupons, both flexible and robust, prepared by the artist, draw abstract symbols that defy time and the wind. At the same time as masking, these fabrics reveal the presence of the vats whose industrial products are used in the composition of most modern textiles. The Forty-seventh Samsara installation stands out in the distance like flags linking the industrial past to contemporary issues of cycles, transformation, production and consumption.
This project is being carried out in partnership with the École supérieure d’art de Dunkerque-Tourcoing.
Yemi Awosile’s work is accessible from the front of the Frac.