In 2011 I posted Hunting down Anselm Kiefer in Barjac, France, an article describing our visit to the former Anselm Kiefer studios near Barjac in Southern France. A few months ago I received an email from a very old, very good friend of mine, letting me know that he had moved to a village not far from Barjac. And that he had found my blog and said article while searching for information on Anselm Kiefer and his time in the area. Funny coincidences.
This last week I traveled down there again to visit my friend, and naturally we also went to Barjac, to see how things have evolved around “La Ribaute”.
We parked our car near one of the back entrances and walked around the whole compound in a clockwise direction, trying to follow the fence, which at times is impossible, because of shrubs and other terrain issues. Again I took as many photos as I could. Some of the views were much better this time, since in winter the trees have no leaves. The fences and roads looked like they are well taken care of, however some of the art work seemed rough, further decomposed by weather and time.
When we reached the area around the main gate I noticed big changes compared to our last visit. Quite a few trees have been cut down around there, and we noticed construction workers that were … doing something. At first we couldn’t make it out, we were not sure if they were tearing it down or building a new one shed. After a moment of observation we were convinced these were new structures being built. In another area further up the hill we spotted many shipping containers. Something was definitely happening here, but we did not know who was responsible. Was it the departement who was fixing up things? Or was it Kiefer himself?
As we walked further we saw two cars emerge from the gate. We stopped one of them to ask them some questions, and they told us that it was Anselm Kiefer who orders and oversees the work. Apparently he is in Barjac quite often, once every two, three weeks. Some of the new, huge buildings get built just to store one big piece of art. “Oh you know, this is a different dimension of an artist” one of the workers said with a admiring smile. The other guy showed us some photos how it looked inside on his mobile phone.
This is very good news. It seems that Anselm Kiefer is back in Barjac and working on his project again, at least in some way. I am not sure what his aim is. Will he use this compound just to store art? Or will he also keep developing his original vision of the art park? We hope it’s the latter. This would be so amazing and great.
When we drove off after our walk, we met a huge group of hunters wearing their neon-colored protective-gear. I regret it now, but I didn’t dare to take a photo, because at first they looked so threatening. The vibe was tense, what with their guns and dogs. We asked one of them, how the hunt had gone today. Just one wild boar. With all these people, we asked? They laughed. So did we and drove off.
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Dear Mr. Kiefer
if you ever google yourself and happen to find this little blog, we would love it, if you can invite us to visit La Ribaute and the gorgeous installations. We are also very interested to hear what the plans are for La Ribaute. We would love to see something happening there, the idea was great, it still is, and the region is amazing.
Thanks
Edited June 2019: Video of Anselm Kiefer showing Ferdinand von Schirach the location in Barjac (Thanks to Daniel E in comments!)
i love the art of Anselm Kiefer. A few weeks ago he got a honorary doctorate by the University of Antwerp (Belgium) and on that occasion there’s an exhibition of his ‘Die Buchstaben’ (https://www.antwerpen.be/nl/overzicht/kiefer/die-buchstaben)
During the exhibition there’s also a very interesting video of Kiefer in Barjac. In the meantime I saw it twice.
In my search of more information on Barjac (and the possiblities of a visit) I found your blog. That was a very nice discovery.
Thanks for keeping me informed!
You’re very welcome and thanks for the info and the link. Also, I always recommend to visit the Hangar Bicocca in Milano, I Sette Palazzi Celesti 2004-2015, they added some amazing paintings.
Kiefer inviting “everybody” to the Barjac “studio” during the the conversation with German0 in 2015 see at 33:25
Hi Jan
You seem to have already done the work I was planning to do. Can you please keep me informed of any new updates on actually getting inside the compound? I agree, it’s a crying shame this beautiful project is not open to the public but based on your update, maybe sometime soon!!! email (contact@haydenphoenix.com)
Thank you for your great detective work!
Hayden
Like you and many others we lone Kiefers work for many years now and going to provence this summer searched for info about his studio near there. Found your blog and very impressed with your detective work. However dont know if its because I’m old or stupid but very confused by your co-ordinates. Could I ask for more explanation please?
Hey there Lesley. Hope you can find it this way.
Find Barjac, near Alès. Leave Barjac northwards, towards the village Vagnas, at the first round about take the first right exit. Now pretty much follow the main road without turning off, and you will find the compound on your right.
Or maybe this map helps:
https://www.google.ch/maps/place/44%C2%B019'31.8%22N+4%C2%B021'57.1%22E/@44.3255078,4.3306221,9764m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m2!3m1!1s0x0:0x0
Good luck, and looking forward to your report.
Thanks for all the info. We vacation in the very northern tip of Catalunya and are very big Kiefer fans. We will drive out there this year.
Hi
Really interesting hearing about your attempts to visit the place – I had no idea it was so difficult and mysterious! We’re heading to Provence in a few weeks and after seeing a big exhibition of his work in london a couple of years ago I have been wanting to see his work in an outdoor setting… So it’s a great shame it’s not an open site. Any further news do please update!
We are visiting about a few days the area of the atelier of Anselm Kiefer.
We hope we can see more of the Art .
We are very exciting to travel to Barjac on the 11 of August 2017.
My husband is a filmmaker and I make Paintings and we are very interested in the work of Kiefer.
We tell you more after we visit the Ribaut.
Yes, curious to hear about the latest developments. Last time I was there, it seemed like things were moving along.
Video: Anselm Kiefer himself is giving Ferdinand von Schirach a tour through the property in Barjac. https://youtube.com/watch?v=dsyH_ypi9dk
Thank you so much, I included this in the post above.
You’re welcome. I linked a YT version because I thought the embedding is easier and subtitles are included. The original 3sat version (German speaking television program) seems with 50 minutes to be longer. No clue what is missing. https://www.3sat.de/kultur/kulturdoku/dialoge-in-suedfrankreich-100.html