Valenciennes is a town in northern France. In the 9th century the region was run by the Normans and in 1008 was badly effected by the Plague. In the 15th century the city was economically independent with manufacturers of wool and fine linens. Valenciennes is historically renowned for its lace. Until the 1970s, the main industries were steel and textiles, but since their decline, there is mainly automobile production. In 2001, Toyota built its Western European assembly line for the Toyota Yaris in Valenciennes.
As I began my research I started to look at how and draw ideas from the lace production. I found an old traditional school, the only one in the region, called Dentelle de Valenciennes, (www.dentellieres.com) which I am going to visit this afternoon and will tell you more in my next post.
I also started researching food specialities of the region and traditional dishes. Became fascinated by the butchers and the production of the selection of they meat and products that French people eat!
I bought some samples to experiment with such as tripe, offal, intestines and Caul Fat, or as the French would say ‘CRÉPINE’, sounds like a pancake, something nice!
Intestines are the most disgusting things I ever had to clean so far in my life, smell’s awful, and has an ‘interesting texture! At the moment they are drying in my studio space and the smell is getting worse by the minute. I am being taken to a slaughter house this afternoon to see and perhaps get some more samples, so I will tell you more about it tomorrow….
