The exhibition ‘Tree avenues – from war to peace’ is on display at Parc de la Pépinière in Nancy until 16 November.
It provides an overview of the history of tree avenues from the 15th century to the present day, with the First World War as a turning point.
The exhibition highlights the fascination exerted by tree-avenues, the differences in ‘landscape culture’ between countries, and France's role in the development of this particular landscape feature. The memorial avenues planted in the British Empire, the United States and Italy also demonstrate the potential of avenues to create links between places and between people. This is still true today, and the last panels are devoted to the ‘modernity’ of avenues in the face of contemporary challenges.
Richly illustrated with archival documents and contemporary images, the exhibition takes us throughout Europe, but also to Mexico, Canada, New Zealand and the United States.
The 14 panels of the exhibition are fixed to the on the gates along the upper avenue of the Parc de la Pépinière. This avenue of lime and chestnut trees was laid out as a promenade on the former bastions of the city in the 18th century and renovated in the 19th century. It bordered the nursery intended for roadside plantings.
This perfect location reminds us that avenues are at the junction between roads and gardens, and between utility and pleasure.
