Images created by Mathieu Farcy and the residents of the ADOMA La Couronne and Stockfeld family-style residences, as well as the patients accompanied by the Léonard de Vinci, Simone Veil, ODJA, Jules Verne, Camille Claudel and Victor Hugo units of the Erstein hospital: Alain, Nathalie, Jean-Marc, Jacques, Younès, Hakim, Jérôme, Christophe, Jacqui, Nicolas, Ludovic, Hakima, Séverine, Mustafa, Thierry, Angélique, Isabelle, Élise, Claudia, Jean-Marc, Marie, Natalia, René, Yann, Delphine, Christian, Mickaël, Sarah, Tristan, Patrice and Adrien.
Creation time led over four weeks, spread between October and November 2025
With Katalin Mohacsi and Nourredine Kadri, La Couronne boarding house; Malika Touahri and Céline Scholl, Stockfeld boarding house; and Claudia Alario, special education teacher at Erstein Hospital. Thanks also to Arnaud, educator; Margot, educator; Alexandre, caregiver; and Guillaume, educator.
Collective work carried by Stimultania.
Project designed and implemented within the framework of the Culture – Health call for projects
Supported by the DRAC Grand Est, the Regional Health Agency, the Erstein Hospital Centre and the ADOMA family residences.
In 2023, Stimultania launched a project with the La Couronne guesthouse and photographer Yann Datessen. The images produced by the participants were exhibited in Stimultania's shop windows and within the guesthouse.
At the opening of this exhibition, Stimultania met with professionals from the Erstein hospital. Together, we realized that some residents were receiving care at the hospital and that some patients were being referred to boarding houses. The Stockfeld boarding house then approached Stimultania to offer residents a new series of introductory photography workshops.
Together (with the boarding houses and the hospital), we decided to do a joint project and invite the photographer Mathieu Farcy – whose practice is nourished by doing-with in each of his projects – to intervene with these audiences as part of an intervention residency.
It's the kind of project that carries within it both joy and frustration. The joy of creating works together, but also suspended moments and spaces that unfold above the everyday. And the frustration because not all the stories can be told. Choices must be made; time is short.
Mathieu Farcy first came to Strasbourg in October 2025 for a week. There, he met the residents of the ADOMA boarding houses – La Couronne and Stockfeld. With Alain and Nathalie, he set up plastic wings in the Orangerie park. With Hakim, Jérôme, and Thierry, they went into the forest near the boarding house and let the peace and quiet of the place soothe the neighborhood tensions.
In November, Mathieu Farcy returned to Strasbourg, this time working within the walls of the Erstein hospital with six psychiatric units. In each unit, Mathieu began by meeting with the project participants. Together, they discussed the concept of refuge. Emotions surfaced as the participants shared their stories with Mathieu: stories of upheaval, anger, the protective power of colors, and horticulture. Marie slowly caressed her face on the computer screen, while Elise took Mathieu to discover the plants growing in the hospital park. Mathieu found a cupboard, perfect for recreating Tristan's refuge.
Blue is my refuge. 2025 © Mathieu Farcy, ADOMA family-style residences and Erstein Hospital
Mathieu Farcy, born in 1985, lives in Marvejols. A photographer after having been a special needs educator, Mathieu Farcy places the question of "social disqualification" at the center of his work. His interest in speech and the place of others in society has constantly crossed his photographic practice. His various works are part of a reflection around what he calls "horizontal documentaries", in which he involves the participants and considers them as just as responsible for the creation as he is. [Circulation(s) festival of young European photography, 2019]