The Marc Chagall National Museum and the Nice University Hospital are both celebrating their 40th anniversary in 2013. On this occasion, the Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation staff of the Neuroscience Department will inaugurate* the reproduction in mosaic of a 3 by 2 meter dimension of the Song of Songs IV by Marc Chagall, created as part of occupational therapy by about a hundred patients.
This initiative, which is part of the Cultural Project at the Nice University Hospital, offers an opportunity to pay tribute to Art and Life.
It is the result of close collaboration between the Marc Chagall National Museum and the Nice University Hospital, the company Opiocolor, the Friends of the Marc Chagall National Museum Association, MACSF Insurance, and the teams of the Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation unit led by Professor Claude Desnuelle.
Between 2010 and 2013, over nearly 10,000 hours, the patients finely cut, sanded, aligned, and methodically glued 33,950 tiles under the attentive watch of occupational therapists. They consider mosaicking an excellent rehabilitation activity, as this work adapts to many pathologies. It allows patients, beyond motor issues, to work on concentration, precision, and patience, which are integral parts of rehabilitation.
Patients were introduced to this technique in a spirit of exchange and solidarity, contributing to the human and social dimension of the hospital. They were also able to discover or rediscover the work of Marc Chagall, one of the major artists of the 20th century, and appreciate the presence of Art in the hospital.
This artwork brought together energies and colored the lives of patients who appreciate the work accomplished.
As one patient put it, “What use can Art be? Sometimes, quite simply, it can help someone regain the ability to properly use their hands. Art gives us an answer the painter had not thought of!”
