Two legs in glazed pink raised on columns charged with"sea urchins, coral, and shells to let out a thin stream of water from a vagina triumphant... This is the sculpture group three meters high that will be able to discover from August of the Nantais, in the basins of the place royale.

The initiative is part of the " Travel to Nantes ", a cultural journey and poetic offered each year through the city. For the French artist Elsa Sahal, the Fountain is a work that is intentionally feminist : "In the continuous flow of the urine stream, there was the idea that little girls can piss dru, far away, and continuously," she explains in the presentation of the exhibition. And this, ironically, can occur in the public space, where only the urine of the male are admitted [...]. Figure pissante is a pattern decidedly masculine in the history of art that many women artists have been hijacked since the 1970s. "

The artist explains that the title of his work, Fountain, is a foot of nose to Marcel Duchamp, who had made a scandal at the beginning of the Twentieth century by giving the same title to his famous urinal industrial overthrown...

invigorating Effect

For Mary Dupas, in charge of the artistic programming of the " Journey to Nantes ", this work is itself a " feminist response to the Manneken-Pis of Brussels ", as reported Ouest France. Devil ! Is it really necessary to see this in the innocent figure of the little Brussels a symbol of male domination revolting ? It is without doubt push the boat out a bit far...

The Manneken-Pis, " the little man piss ", was created in the Fifteenth century, in connection with the local history, a far cry from our current debates around feminism. Several explanations circulate without knowing which is the more credible... one of the most common, it was reported that the boy allegedly urinated on a wick ignited by besiegers who were going to blow up the city, failing to quickly find a bucket of water.

The Manneken-Pis, or rather its replica because the original is preserved in the museum, attracts up to 30,000 visitors per day. © KENZO TRIBOUILLARD / AFP

The most accepted terms of a battle dating back to the Twelfth century that pitted two armies, one loyal to the duke of Lotharingia died too soon, in the face of ambitious rivals. The troops ducales were suddenly galvanized at the sight of the young heir, made on the field of battle, which relieved his feelings from his cradle... It commémora the victory with a statue, rebuilt in the Seventeenth century in the Renaissance style, inspired by a putto chubby and mocking then in vogue, which has since become the symbol of the spirit of brussels and cheerful and rebellious. Some experts also refer to a classic theme fountains of the city around " the child pee ", an artistic pattern current several centuries ago. It is far less of an overt macho or misogynist...

The Jeanneke-Pis

One wishes, in any case, the artist Elsa Sahal, the same success for its sculpture as its male counterpart in brussels. The Manneken-Pis receives the visit of nearly 30 000 curious per day in high season, almost as much as for the mona lisa at the Louvre museum. The reply of women, the Jeanneke-Pis, installed in Brussels since the 1980s, is much less recipe...

The Journey to Nantes, from 8 August to 27 September.