You’ve surely heard the expression “That’s a lost art“, right? With so many new ones popping up all the time, how can we know when one disappears?

We live in an ever-changing world, where innovation and invention are the order of the day. Technology, especially, has a way of dangling new ways of expressing creativity in front of us all the time.

But alas, if you’ve been paying attention, you know that many of the trendiest ideas are mere flashes in the pan. (NFTs anyone? How’s your virtual real estate in the metaverse doing? Exercised your avatar lately?)

With Artificial Intelligence nipping at our creative heels from every direction, it’s only natural to put some attention on which realms of creation will remain out of the reach of our silicon-powered friends. Indeed, this is a conversation that is sure to be happening in the homes of college-age and career-considering kids everywhere.

Humanity’s dance with technology is an ever-evolving two-step that embodies the proverbial double-edged-sword. Like it or not–we shape the world. Until climate change became apparent by appearing on virtually everyone’s front door, it was easy to ignore. “Big changes might be happening somewhere else, but the big world out there stays the same.” Not anymore.

Our lot in this moment in history is not only to loosen up and go with the flow, but also to wise up and make the decisions that steer us to a sustainable future. Balancing the promise (and perils) of technology with a conscious effort to keep the old ways alive may indeed be our wisest path forward.

These thoughts bubble to the surface on the heels of a surprise visit to Château de Fretay in the Loire Valley of France. Marie-Hélène Poisson (above right, with my puzzle-cutting sweetheart Isabelle center and painter Isy Ochoa on the left with Oups, the family bloodhound) decamped from Paris several years ago with her husband Christophe to restore a magnificent historic country estate and create the atelier of her dreams.

Marie-Hélène is one of the world’s foremost practitioners of marquetry, (marquetry, from the French marqueter, to variegate, is the art and craft of applying pieces of veneer to a structure to form decorative patterns or designs). Think priceless-antique-royal-furniture, the kind of museum pieces that make you drop your jaw and say “Who on earth had the time and the talent to make such things?”

She learned the art from her father, who in turn learned it from his, which makes her the third in line. She’s now teaching it to her daughter which will bring the family lineage up to the fourth generation. Her workshop at the château is filled with tools and templates that have been passed down through the family for more than a century.

She shared with us many of the insights gained through her life’s work, not the least of which was this: Folks in her father’s and grandfather’s generations were extremely tight-lipped about their craft. Trade secrets were not shared, quite the opposite, they were guarded closely.

If you weren’t in the family or weren’t a trusted apprentice, you weren’t going to learn arts like this. And that’s what makes them so precious and valuable, they truly are at risk of being lost. As Marie-Hélène says “There’s no way to recreate this knowledge from scratch. The tools are only part of the story, without the knowledge of how it was done there is nothing.”

Fortunately for us, Marie-Hélène has one foot placed firmly in the modern world. You’ll want to follow her on Instagram or learn about her work in great detail by visiting her website. Best of all, she’s passionate about mentoring the next generation of artisans and sharing the inside knowledge of this highly-specialized craft — she offers weekly classes for students of all ages in her atelier.

It’s efforts like this that offer hope to a world awash in flavor-of-the-minute technology. Technology will keep dazzling us with wonders, so it’s vitally important that nearly-lost arts like marquetry are kept alive in the modern day. We need the counterpoint of living history to temper the excitement of rapid progress. The dance goes on!

Au revoir à Lundi prochain!

M+

Mark Metz
Director of the Dance First Association
Publisher of Conscious Dancer Magazine