An Encyclopedia of Silences. John Berger visite la grotte Chauvet

Abstract

At the end of the twentieth century, John Berger (1926-2017) experienced the underground world twice, starting with The Vertical Line (1999), a theatrical piece and archaeological dig at London’s Strand underground station. It was a journey 30 meters below ground and spanning 30.000 years. Subsequently, he had the chance to visit the Chauvet cave in the company of archaeologist Jean Clottes, as shown in a documentary by Pierre-Oscar Lévy. Berger devotes three texts to this prehistoric immersion in silence and darkness, and above all to the drawings made 32.000 years ago, a deeply moving experience for a writer who taught several generations of art historians alternative Ways of Seeing. By focusing on this collection of Berger’s images and texts on the mundus inferior and the Chauvet cave, this article emphasises the originality of his contribution, placing it in the context of the renewed interest in prehistoric art within the visual arts.

Keywords

• contemporary theatre and art
• Grotte Chauvet
• Jean Clottes
• John Berger
• geography of the deep
• Pierre-Oscar Levy