This steam organ, inaugurated in 2019, is a work of the artist Bettina Samson, made as part of the public commission of Bordeaux Métropole. It is fed by the adjacent waste recovery plant, VALBOM. 38 whistles play music with a dissonant breath, like the organs of a living machine. The sound layers, polyrhythms and melodies evoke, in turn, incantations, an almost danced Jazz Funeral, the lively rhythms of Haitian peasant songs, polyphonies of flutes or electronic rhythms. They pay tribute to the «voices» gathered during the ceremony of Bois-Caïman (1791) which marks the beginning of the revolution led by slaves and for the independence of Haiti (1804).
The new pieces were composed in situ by percussionist Xavier Roumagnac, from the unique specificities of the machine.
For the day of September 21, Bettina Samson and Xavier Roumagnac join forces with the Maison rêvée to make you discover these new pieces, and offer you guided tours and workshops!