Etienne Guiol FR
A Salty Protest #2
Immersive show
A tour of artworks in public spaces as part of the Aix Biennale
Friday 30th and Saturday 31st October
from 7pm to 11pm
25-minute continuous cycles
Théâtre de l’Archevêché
Aix-en-Provence
Credits
Based on Philip Glass’s opera *Satyagraha*, directed by Lucinda Childs and produced by the Nice Côte d’Azur Opera, BK International, and Immersive Opera on October 2, 2025.
“A Salty Protest” is an immersive performance that blends audiovisual installation, choreographed performance, and experimental film. Loosely inspired by Philip Glass’s *Satyagraha* and the “Salt March” led by Gandhi in 1930, the project explores the political and poetic power of collective acts of nonviolent resistance.
In a vast, dark physical space, with a floor strewn with gravel and dust, a 360° choreography of moving images unfolds, accompanied by musical and sound compositions.
Audience members move freely through this sensory experience, which explores the tension between protest and repression, in a nonlinear narrative that resonates with our immediate geopolitical environment—both in terms of media saturation and the emotional chaos it engenders.
Etienne Guiol
Etienne Guiol, an illustrator and video artist born in 1989, explores the body and movement. Trained in drawing, animation, and stained-glass art, he explored a wide range of techniques before settling on the ones he feels most comfortable with: drawing and video.
Etienne grew up in Chartres. He studies from life in the traditional way to improve his drawing skills. At age 16, following in the footsteps of the Academy’s students in the 19th century, he left for Rome to further his self-taught studies. Interested in stained glass, he began training to become a master glassmaker while still in high school and went on to work at renowned studios such as the Atelier Loire and the Atelier Petit. Starting in his teens, he has been working with professionals who support him in his artistic endeavors. This period marked the beginning of his independent academic training.
He joined Emile Cohl in 2006. Traditional art education has allowed him to refine his drawing technique through the study of the live model and the human body. To study the human body in detail, he is taking anatomy classes at the medical school. He learns traditional animation techniques and then builds on them using digital tools. During this period, Etienne was painting in oils while studying under painters from the Lyon School. From the age of 13 until he finished school, Etienne was a watercolorist, master glassmaker, and painter. He exhibits and sells his work, illustrates books, and takes on commissions for stained-glass windows.
His first work combining animation and the projection of drawings in an opera was a revelation. No existing studio specializes in video production for the performing arts. In 2012, he co-founded Studio BK with the goal of creating video for the stage. The studio allows Etienne to create works of art that are directly inspired by his personal research.
Studio A+E was founded in 2020. It is the production facility for Etienne’s personal works and his shows. For him, the stage is like a canvas on which he brings his animation work to life with artists and performers from around the world. This originality makes Etienne Guiol a unique and independent artist.
