Pierre Dumaire, Telo Martius

in situ fresco, commissioned by the festival

The mural I executed at Toulon’s former Bishop’s Palace is a fantasised vision of the city in antiquity when it was still the harbour of Telo Martius. This mural combines elements specific to the history of the harbour and the region; fishing and shellfishing, purple and red dyes obtained from murices and cochineal insects, local flowers, and birds; with mythological elements; Ulysses and the Sirens, Nereids and Tritons, Ganymede, the Sacrifice of Iphigenia… The progression in the hallway on the second floor comes with an evolution of the mural. The entrance starts with a maritime atmosphere with boats and fishermen before the eyes of marine deities, to then arrive on land, surrounded by fields and a blooming garden, the hallway finally ends with a small vestibule thought of as a hearth at the heart of a private party with musicians, dancers, and merrymakers. The work on the walls of the sanitary facilities is an extension of the hallway’s mural, inspired by the graffiti of the ancient toilet facilities, remaining as one of the greatest sources of texts having survived and the art of “latrinalia”, toilet poems.The mural is composed of drawings and texts by Greek poet Constantin Cavafy and of successive attempts to cover and hide them.