Built between 1844 and 1869, and rebuilt after wartime damage, Basilique Saint-Nicolas forms the backdrop to Ali Cherri’s installation inspired by Jules Verne’s little-known A Priest in 1839.
In it, Verne imagines a church bell collapsing inside the basilica: the sacred gives way to violence, which is then absorbed by administration – the traces are erased, the building repaired, and the event is normalized. Cherri calls this process “the mechanics of the sacred”: behind every elevation lies an infrastructure capable of breaking.
For this project, he focuses on the sculptures of the musician angels adorning the basilica’s spire. Some original figures disappeared during restoration and were replaced with replicas. Cherri fragments these forms: wings and trumpets are cast in industrial aluminum at architectural scale. Opposite them is an angel’s head modeled in clay. Against the permanence of the metal stands the fragility of that which erodes.
The piece rests on an exposed wooden framework, somewhere between construction site, ruin, and suspended reconstruction. It reveals the structure rather than the façade – the support rather than what is displayed.
Between construction, ruin and renewal, the work asks: what deserves to be elevated today?
Ali Cherri was born in 1976 in Beirut, Lebanon. He lives and works in Paris and Beirut, and is represented by Galerie Imane Farès and Galerie Almine Rech, Paris. He was awarded the Silver Lion for his participation in the 59th International Art Exhibition of the Venice Biennale in 2022.
Artist’s Instagram account.
By the same artist
Heritage Moment
Upon Ali Cherri’s request, and as part of this project, Nantes’ Heritage and Archaeology services, will present one of the eight original angels from Basilique Saint-Nicolas inside the church.
3 Pl. Félix Fournier, 44000 Nantes
How to get there?
Parking(s) nearby: Parking Commerce, Parking Tour Bretagne, Parking Decré-Bouffay, Parking Graslin, Parking Feydeau, Parking Aristide Briand
Public transport: Commerce, St-Nicolas, Place du Cirque
Self-service bicycles: Station Naolib Vélo libre-service Guépin (n°9), Station Naolib Vélo libre-service Boucherie (n°8), Station Naolib Vélo libre-service Commerce (n°30), Station Naolib Vélo libre-service Bretagne sud (n°13), Station Naolib Vélo libre-service Calvaire (n°11), Station Naolib Vélo libre-service Duguay trouin (n°29), Station Naolib Vélo libre-service Place du cirque (n°6), Station Naolib Vélo libre-service Moulin (n°4), Station Naolib Vélo libre-service Bourse (n°31), Station Naolib Vélo libre-service Bouffay (n°20)
Closed today.
From july 4th 2026 to september 6th 2026
