The graffiti of suffering and the Second World War sublimated in works of art

PEU de Rochelais know the details of the history of the Marius-Lacroix psychiatric hospital. “The Landfland Hospital of La Rochelle” was founded in 1829 in the village of Lafond, at the gates of the city, before it became the district that we all know today. “Before the construction of the psychiatric hospital, the patients under our territory were neat either at the Saint-Louis hospital, or in local hospices, in prison or in specialized units for the most difficult patients,” explains Clément Larcher, head of general affairs in Marius-Lacroix.

For more than a century, the hospital kept its exclusively psychiatric activities until, during the Second World War, it was requisitioned by the Germans in 1940 and used as a prison, mainly to hold Jewish resistants and families. “It is estimated that more than a thousand the number of people who passed it during the war. If some were simply questioned and then released, others have suffered interrogation, tortures and barbarism acts before being incarcerated, sent to concentration camps or directly condemned and shot, “continues Clément Larcher. Among the most notable spent in the shade of its walls are Léonce Vieljeux, Anne-Marie Epaud, Marcel Deflandre, Marie-Noémie Durand, Armand Bouffenie, Marie-Oodette Gorin, Marius Lacroix or Marcelline Emonin.

The artist spotted around fifty graffiti left on the stone by those who suffered in the shade of these walls

After the end of the conflict, the hospital was still used as a detention center for the Germans prisoners this time, before becoming a psychiatric hospital again. Henri Cons was the first non-medicine director of the establishment, responsible for reopening it in 1949. Despite everything, in the basement of the administrative building, a dozen cells are opposite. “This is where the Germans tortured their prisoners,” says Clément Larcher.

In 1955, neuroleptic drugs arrived on the market and revolutionized psychiatry, releasing the sick and allowing them to recover a life outside the care center. The Lafond Hospital, whose local popular connotation had become too negative, was then renamed the Marius-Lacroix hospital.

Since 2019, the hospital has housed in one of its buildings the collective of “carbon gasoline” artists which allows patients and to enjoy cultural activities and activities. Eight artists including plastic artist Mathieu Duvignaud supports this pretty project. Between 2022 and 2023 the artist spotted around fifty graffiti left in the stone by people who, at the turn of history, suffered in the shade of these walls. Resistant, future deportees or simple patient, difficult to know, as the saltpeter has gnawed certain engravings. “I only explored five buildings. I found writings like “France will defeat” or even signs of the Polish army. The most beautiful for me is a boat that I discovered in the attic of a building, ”says Mathieu Duvignaud.

“Fragments” of history

After having made an imprint in accordance with the original using photography and laser cutting, the artist has thermoformed them in the glass and created an original work retracing the history of the hospital. This technique consists in transposing graphic elements into three dimensions by slow cooking glass. The rest of the story continues a hundred meters from the psychiatric hospital in the workshop of the establishment and support service by work (ESAT) of the Moulinier winch. About fifteen casts will be set in a wooden structure by the workers of the structure. “We always have rewarding projects for them. We always highlight their skills, ”assure Xavier Primas, the workshop manager, and Delphine Loffredo, the socio-educational framework of ESAT.

This work entitled “Fragments” will be exposed permanently and in free access, in the entrance to the hospital from May 8. Note that the Marius-Lacroix Hospital also has a museum of psychiatry which can only be visited by appointment.