Lyon (France), 1936: Workers’ revolt that broke into a factory in the city, led to the workers taking over the factory and blockading themselves inside. The picture is taken from an article published in the press, which I found in a family album. The picture documents men standing behind the bars of the factory gate, where they had chosen to lock themselves in.

One of the men in the photo is my father.

The voluntary lockdown of 2020 has a similar purpose: to protect ourselves from the pandemic. This is a voluntary lockdown taken as a step to improve the existing situation and has led the population to lock itself up at home, not unlike the French workers, who sought to improve the terms of their livelihoods through taking over the factory and choosing to lock themselves up inside.

In 1936 the French press reported on the lockdown of the workers, an event in which my father was involved - and in 2020 I find myself participating in a mass-scale media event that also involves lockdown for a better future.

The proximity to my father has created an ongoing work in several parts, the end of which will be a return to normal life. This work reflects a transfer from 1936 to 2020.

Drawing using mixed techniques - each drawing 60/80 cm.

JOSYANE VANOUNOU

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