Nouvelle affiche de la semaine de la semaine du Golfe par Gildas Flahault

*Google trad, sorry...

An international maritime event, "La Semaine du Golfe" brings together every two years in the spring, more than a thousand boats in the Gulf of Morbihan, this "small sea" which is one of the most beautiful bays in the world.
The organizers of the highly anticipated event after a blank year 2021, due to the health crisis, have just unveiled the poster for the 12th edition which will take place from May 15 to 21, 2023.
A canvas carrying dreams and distant horizons, signed Gildas Flahault, Breton painter, sea wolf passionate about art and sailing, author of the 12 posters of the event born in 2001: "It ended up creating a good collection! "He smiles" When you do an exercise like this, you have to renew yourself each time and find a point of view, a different atmosphere. The opportunity for We Culte to meet him.

What theme did you favor for the poster of the 2023 edition of "La Semaine du Golfe"?
Gildas Flahault: I wanted to focus on childhood, because when you do imagery about the navy, boats, you're always tempted to put virile men, with big arms and tattoos (laughs). I had this absolutely wonderful childhood in the Gulf of Morbihan, where you encounter all weather conditions, currents, tides... I sailed all over the world and I learned a lot of things in this fantastic territory. maritime.

There, you wanted to highlight a young character, in front of a flotilla of different boats…
Gildas Flahault: She is an 11-12 year old kid who is proud and happy to hold an oar at the bow of a boat and soon to send the mooring line to the quay. I wanted to make a kind of collage of different boats that are supposed to represent the diversity of boats that can be encountered during "La Semaine du Golfe". We have a sinagot, a sardine boat from Douarnenez, a bisquine from Cancale, a mackerel boat, a tuna boat, a sailboat, a light Norwegian boat, a cutter and at the bottom, a three-master. The purpose of "La Semaine du Golfe" is to invite boats from all over the world, that's what is extraordinary about this meeting. There are microscopic boats as pretty and well maintained as 100 meter ships. It's a real ode to sailing, it's wonderful. The boats are placed in a flotilla, with red sails, classic yachts, fishing boats, tall ships...

The idea of ​​the poster is the transmission to the new generation?
Gildas Flahault: I had already made a poster on the theme of transmission, with a child at the helm of a boat and a man giving him advice. Education at sea is something that matters a lot. It's amazing what navigation can do. Sailing upwind against the wind for ten hours, not changing tack or coming back because it's complicated and tiring, it's a great metaphor for the inertia you can have in life to do something. There are all the notions of solidarity, contact with nature, the reality of the tide, the wind, the currents that have to be learned.

What technique do you use?
Gildas Flahault: It's paint on plywood. Drawing directly on the canvas is less precise. There, I can "draw hard", sand, color. In fact, it is a form of coloring. I was born in a family where there was a real tradition of painting, I went to a drawing school in Belgium. I only stayed there for a year, because when I was younger, I was a bit undisciplined (laughs), but I met some great teachers there who taught me everything you need to know to design pictures. I made my first exhibition at the age of 19. I'm 64 today and I've spent my life painting, decorating racing boats, scenography... My influences come from classical painting, cinema, comics, that's a mix that I end up making.

Interview of Victor Hache, Editor-in-Chief of WECulte Le Mag' Culture