This project was initiated and developed by Laurence Aëgerter and Ronald van Tienhoven for Kunsthuis SYB, Beetsterzwaag, Frysia, Netherlands Tristes Tropiques is a memoir, first published in France in 1955 by the anthropologist and structuralist Claude Lévi-Strauss. It documents his travels and anthropological work, focusing principally on Brazil. Although ostensibly a travelogue, the work is infused with philosophical reflections and ideas linking many academic disciplines, such as sociology, history, and literature. Lévi-Strauss’ reflections regarding the life of Brazilian indians in a rapidly changing society, and the transformation in people’s perception vis-à-vis other cultures throughout the 20th century, led us to use Tristes Tropiques as conceptual and visual point of reference for our art project in Kunsthuis SYB, in Beetsterzwaag, Frysia. Together with about 40 Beetsterzwaag residents of both sexes and all ages we reenacted the 63 photographs published by Lévi-Strauss in Tristes Tropiques. The photographs are set in the environs of Beetsterzwaag, which oddly resemble the Brazilian interior, notably that of Mato Grosso province. This presentation was on show throughout our residency in Kunsthuis SYB. The end presentation was held on Saturday the 16th of October 2010. Check out the other Tristes Tropiques presentation, where the whole final photo sequence can be seen. A publication ise part of the project output. In October 2011 this publication was presented at the Lloyd Hotel's Cultural Embassy in Amsterdam, and in November by Filigranes Editions at Paris Photo. In April 2012 the project will be on show at Salon für Kunstbuch in Vienna. This project has been made possible thanks to the financial support from the Netherlands Foundation for Visual Arts, Design and Architecture and the Stokroos Foundation. Kunsthuis SYB is being supported by the province of Frysia and the Mondriaan Foundation.

1. Tristes Tropiques
illustrations hors texte
Tristes Tropiques
plates alongside the next
sources, developments, & the making of

2. In 2010 the french-dutch artist Laurence Aëgerter was invited to do
an six-week artist’s residency in Kunsthuis (Art House) SYB, in the
Frysian village of Beetsterzwaag.
Sensing that a cooperative project in this context might lead to a
conceptually richer result, she decided to ask dutch artist Ronald
van Tienhoven to participate.
Their residency resulted in an elaborate communal photography
project that ran parallel to the photo manifestation Noorderlicht,
one of the foremost venues related to art and photography in the
Netherlands.
Deciding on developing an alternative form of ‘counter exploration’,
Aëgerter and Van Tienhoven chose the seminal ethnographical book
Tristes Tropiques by Claude Lévi-Strauss as the point of departure.

3. Claude Lévi-Strauss - Tristes Tropiques
Éditions Plon, Paris, 1955

4. Claude Lévi-Strauss
1908-2009

5. “Possibly the time will come we discover that the same logic is
the source of both mythical and scientific thinking, en that Man
has always thought well.”
"Peut-être découvrirons-nous un jour que la même logique est à
l'oeuvre dans la pensée mythique et dans la pensée scientifique,
et que l'homme a toujours pensé aussi bien."
Claude Lévi-Strauss

6. Tristes Tropiques is a memoir, first published in France in 1955
by the anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss. It documents his
travels and anthropological work, focusing principally on Brazil.
Although ostensibly a travelogue, the work is infused with
philosophical reflections and ideas linking many academic
disciplines, such as sociology, history, and literature.
Lévi-Strauss’ reflections regarding the life of Brazilian indians
in a rapidly changing society, and the transformation in people’s
perception vis-à-vis other cultures throughout the 20th century
led us to use Tristes Tropiques as conceptual and visual point of
reference for our six-week residency in September and October
2010.
Thursday, September

7. After several weeks of preparation and research, we embarked on
the difficult task to find village people willing to participate in the
project. With the assistance of local residents who are active in
the Kunsthuis SYB organisation, we were able to interest a large
number of people of both genders and all ages in reenacting the
Brazilian scenes and portraits shot by Lévi-Strauss in the 1930s.
All sixty-three photographs published by Lévi-Strauss in the first
1955 edition of Tristes Tropiques were remade in the immediate
vicinity of the village. Locations were chosen as much as possible
with the original settings in mind. The photo sessions took three
days in all. Nearly forty people participated as model in these
reenactments; many others assisted in the project’s production.

8. Nearly a year after our residency in Beetsterzwaag we produced
an artist’s book based on the original photo appendix in Tristes
Tropiques. Tristes Tropiques - Illustrations hors texte is an exact
facsimile of the original appendix: typeface, numbering, layout and
content are identical. The publication consists of two booklets in a
transparent holder: the meticulously reprinted original appendix,
and our identical version with the Beetsterzwaag photographs.
On October 9, 2011, we presented the artist’s book at the Lloyd
Hotel’s Cultural Embassy in Amsterdam. On November 11 Tristes
Tropiques - Illustrations hors texte was presented by Filigranes
Editions during Paris Photo. In the course of April 2012 the book
will be presented by Salon für Kunstbuch in Vienna. Other venues
and presentations will follow in the course of this year.

9. tupi-kawahib
nambikwara
bororo
caduveo
four tribes visited by Lévi-Strauss during his travels through Central Brazil

10. tupi-kawahib
caduveo bororo
nambikwara
Four tribes in a Frysian setting - Beetsterzwaag and environs

11. CADUVEO

12. CADUVEO

13. CADUVEO

14. CADUVEO

15. BORORO

16. BORORO

17. BORORO

18. BORORO

19. NAMBIKWARA

20. NAMBIKWARA

21. NAMBIKWARA

22. NAMBIKWARA

23. TUPI-KAWAHIB

24. TUPI-KAWAHIB

25. TUPI-KAWAHIB

26. TUPI-KAWAHIB

27. PHOTO SESSIONS | DAY ONE

28. PHOTO SESSIONS | DAY ONE

29. PHOTO SESSIONS | DAY ONE

30. PHOTO SESSIONS | DAY ONE

31. PHOTO SESSIONS | DAY ONE

32. PHOTO SESSIONS | DAY ONE

33. PHOTO SESSIONS | DAY ONE

34. PHOTO SESSIONS | DAY ONE

35. PHOTO SESSIONS | DAY ONE

36. PHOTO SESSIONS | DAY ONE

37. PHOTO SESSIONS | DAY ONE

38. PHOTO SESSIONS | DAY ONE

39. PHOTO SESSIONS | DAY ONE

40. PHOTO SESSIONS | DAY ONE

41. PHOTO SESSIONS | DAY ONE

42. PHOTO SESSIONS | DAY ONE

43. PHOTO SESSIONS | DAY ONE

44. PHOTO SESSIONS | DAY ONE

45. PHOTO SESSIONS | DAY ONE

46. PHOTO SESSIONS | DAY ONE

47. PHOTO SESSIONS | DAY ONE

48. PHOTO SESSIONS | DAY TWO

49. PHOTO SESSIONS | DAY TWO

50. PHOTO SESSIONS | DAY TWO

51. PHOTO SESSIONS | DAY TWO

52. PHOTO SESSIONS | DAY TWO

53. PHOTO SESSIONS | DAY TWO

54. PHOTO SESSIONS | DAY TWO

55. PHOTO SESSIONS | DAY THREE

56. PHOTO SESSIONS | DAY THREE

57. PHOTO SESSIONS | DAY THREE

58. artist’s book
Tristes Tropiques
illustrations hors texte
ISBN 13 : 978-2-35046-224-0
Format : 150 x 210 (2x)
144 pages (each book 72 pages)
two paperbacks in plastic holder
2 x 63 photos black and white
signed and numbered

60. FIN
© laurence aëgerter laurence@aegerter.nl
© ronald van tienhoven tien@xs4all.nl