The “laraires sauvages” path

The site of Malagne invites the visitors to travel through time by creating alive links between the knowledges and the faiths of yesterday and today. The laraire is a small altar dedicated to the Lares gods, the defenders of the home, found in all Roman homes. Coming from the Latin sylva, meaning forest, the word “savage” made a reference to the tree. With the path of wild Laraires, the sculptures invest the archaeological site of Malagne bringing it the artistic dimension : works and place reveal each other.

The artist and its process in Malagne

The artistic process of Xavier Rijs consists in questioning the life through that of the tree. Companion since childhood, the tree has become a sculpture and scenography over the years. If his approach has an abstract dimension, it leans above all on a conceptual art (the work is created for and with the place) and on a meditative art (the tree becomes a model of thought, a collection). His interest for the collective and public dimension brings him to work for very diverse places both in Belgium and abroad. The tree sculpture lends itself to the idea of sensor who binds us to our roots, to the soul of our ancestors and to that of the nature. The memory of the tree carries the origin of the world and the link with 2000 years history of the site of Malagne particularly inspired the artist. Every sculpture of tree punctuates the discovery of the site of a place of reflection and meeting. “Laraires savages” invite the walker to settle and to create links with the history of the site, its landscapes, its inhabitants and its gods.