It will not be a red carpet that will be rolled out for the famous romantic, prolific writer and champion of women’s rights on the 150th anniversary of her death. Instead, an unconventional work will be created: three-dimensional, large, beautiful – a carpet by women for a woman. In Aubusson, the centre of tapestry in France, a monumental homage to George Sand is being created. 23 metres long, over two metres high. A visit between weaving looms, wool spinning mills and the Cité internationale de la Tapisserie.
Freedom in walking and thinking
150 years after her death, George Sand’s image in France remains strong and multi-layered. She epitomises literary awakening and social renewal. Her willingness to break with convention and intervene in political debates ensures her fame to this day. Her style of dress caused scandals in the 19th century that kept both the press and Parisian society on tenterhooks. She was the first woman in France to wear trousers and men’s clothing in public, which gave her access to places and circles that were otherwise closed to women. She smoked a pipe and cigar, even though women were forbidden to do so, and moved freely and independently through Paris.
On 8 June 2026, the 150th anniversary of her death, the Hommage à George Sand carpet will be unveiled at the Cité internationale de la Tapisserie. Not on a wall, but as a walk-in installation, the 23-metre-long artwork invites visitors to explore it. The carpet shows the phases of her life and uses the flow of water and the landscape as symbols of change, freedom and vital energy. Numerous trades worked on it until completion – all under the direction of women: from the artistic design and dyeing of the wool to weaving and communication.
In the flow of emotions – Francoise Petrovitch
The Cité internationale de la Tapisserie has chosen Françoise Pétrovitch, a renowned French artist. Pétrovitch is known for her expressive painting, in which she thematises identity, fragmentation and gender boundaries. Her ambivalent figures and her playful use of shapes and colours made her the ideal choice to artistically interpret the complex personality of George Sand.
For the Hommage à George Sand carpet, Pétrovitch uses the Lavis technique. Originally used in painting, this method enables transparency and flowing transitions through glazed colour applications. In the carpet, these effects unfold in finely graduated nuances ranging from delicate shades to subtle gloom. In this way, the technique captures the flow of emotions and inner states and lends the fabric a lively dynamic. The weaving technique and colour implementation were carried out in close collaboration with a dyer and the weavers in order to translate the desired nuance and depth effect of the ink drawings into textile form. However, the work for an outstanding carpet of high aesthetic quality begins with the raw material and its processing in the wool spinning mill.
Where the thread begins: Spinning wool
The Terrade wool spinning mill in Felletin is one of the last traditional businesses of its kind in France. Tiffany Terrade has been running the family business for over 80 years and is now the fifth generation to do so. Secluded by a small river, the spinning mill looks like it belongs to another era. But this is where wool yarns of the highest quality are produced. Machines that have remained unchanged for decades clatter in the dark rooms. Tiffany Terrade and her small team, which includes her father and grandfather, are preserving the now rare craftsmanship of the wool spinning mill.
The spinning mill is indispensable for the regional art of tapestry. It carefully prepares the sheep’s wool: washing, sorting, loosening and finally spinning it into high-quality yarn. The quality of the yarn determines the weaving, explains Tiffany Terrade. Uniform and robust yarn has a decisive influence on the durability and aesthetics of the finished carpet. Terrade’s employees process 100 kilos of wool every day. “We spin all year round,” says Tiffany Terrade. They work with sorted raw wool of various types such as limousine, solognote, alpaca or yak.
The art of nuances – dyeing wool
For the Hommage à George Sand carpet, a palette of 42 colours was created using the Lavis technique. Nadia Petkovic dyed the wool by hand to fully emphasise the flowing transitions, harmony and complex compositions of the artwork. The carpet art from Aubusson is famous for its fine colour nuances – often up to 220 shades are used per work.
At the Terrade wool spinning mill in Felletin, visitors can experience the artisanal dyeing of wool. The dyeing process is usually based on a customer sample. With three basic colours in powder form and a trained eye, the desired shades are created – all recipes are based on experience, not on written specifications. Colourist Marina Bahri is currently working on a strong shade of blue. She explains that the intensity is controlled by the dyeing time. Whether a yarn turns pink or red is determined by the time it spends in the dye bath – and the colourist’s trained eye.
From cardboard to loom
Before a work such as the Hommage à George Sand is created on the loom, the original design has to be transferred to a cardboard template – a craft in itself. Delphine Mangeret, Cartonnière-Coloriste with a studio in Aubusson, took on this task. She translated the design into a template suitable for weaving. She worked closely with the artist. Together, they ensured that the aesthetics and lavis effects were transferred to the art of weaving and that colour gradients and fine lines were depicted precisely. The finished cardboard template is stretched into the table loom – only then does the weavers’ work begin.
The work of the weavers
Three weavers worked on the Hommage à George Sand for more than two years. Day after day, they weave warp and weft into a monumental work that is hidden from view. The loom swallows up the progress: the fabric rolls up on the back, visible only as a narrow strip on the weaving roll.
Sarah Chassain leads the team at Atelier Robert Four for the Hommage à George Sand tapestry. Together with her colleagues Frederique and Agathe, she shows a sample piece. “We applied to the Cité internationale de la Tapisserie with it,” she explains. The small piece demonstrates the skills that the team had to master for the carpet: fine lines, flowing colour gradients – typical of the artist Françoise Pétrovitch.
Between warp and weft
Sarah Chassain and her colleagues have been working on the 23-metre-long tapestry since the beginning of 2024. In the end, they will have spent over two years weaving it. “People often say: ‘Oh, how patient you have to be! ‘”, says Chassain. “That sounds polite, but they think our work is monotonous and boring. But it’s the opposite. No two pieces are the same. Soon it will be the turn of the little blue bird or a particularly bright spot – I’m looking forward to that.”
The weavers have worked intensively on the piece. “We know the artist, and I also read George Sand in preparation,” says Chassain. The carpet must be finished by May 2026. Then comes the moment that the weavers look forward to with mixed feelings: “Our baby will be cut from the loom. We’ve had every thread in our hands for two years. Now everyone who was involved in the realisation is coming to celebrate this solemn act. But as soon as the carpet is unrolled and can be seen in all its splendour for the first time, we are no longer allowed to touch it. It then belongs to the public. From one day to the next, we have to let go. It’s difficult every time. “
Let’s talk about art
“It’s a mammoth project with long-term planning,” says Héloise Gorse Fénelon, responsible for communication at the Cité internationale de la Tapisserie. The idea for Hommage à George Sand was born in 2020, six years before the 150th anniversary of her death. Two years later, Francoise Petrovitch’s design for George was selected following a call for tenders. This was followed by the preparatory phase: cardboard production, colour selection, dyeing and weaving samples. At the end of 2023, the actual weaving work was handed over to the Robert Four manufactory. The tapestry is scheduled for completion in May 2026, with the public presentation planned for June 2026 at the Cité in Aubusson – just in time for the 150th anniversary of George Sand’s death.
After that, our carpet will be travelling, reveals Héloise Gorse Fénelon. It will be presented on a mobile, free-standing frame that allows for different shapes – such as horseshoe-shaped or curved. This allows the audience to view the carpet from behind and see the otherwise hidden back. Hommage à George Sand thus becomes a mobile installation that adapts flexibly to different exhibition spaces. Several exhibitions are planned in France, but this special tapestry could also be shown in England or Germany – discussions with potential exhibition venues are still ongoing.
Highlights in Nouvelle-Aquitaine
The Charente winds its way through the French region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine for 380 kilometers. Its course leads from the mountainous headwaters over rolling hills and vineyards to the maritime floodplains at the estuary. From Angoulême, the river is navigable all the way to the Atlantic at Rochefort. It was once the main transport route for cognac production. Today, cognac houses and winegrowers invite you to spirit tourism, while cycle paths such as the Flow Vélo take you past picturesque villages, old stone bridges, a rare transporter bridge, watermills, castles and the old town of Angoulême. The Charente is still considered an insider tip, as it is one of the most pristine river landscapes in France: hardly any mass tourism, but plenty of nature, tranquillity and enjoyment. The small island of Aix was once a bulwark to protect the Charente estuary from enemy fleets and is now popular for a day trip to the sea.
The research trip was supported by Nouvelle-Aquitaine Tourism and Creuse Tourisme
