Heavenly Silk

In April 2026, La Table des Amis de Provence offered “Heavenly Silk” to members and friends.

Invited by the Eygalières Marie, La Table member Joanna Staniszkis presents her monumental silk work in the village’s ancient church. Eighty-four years ago, on a cold January night, Jean Moulin landed in the Alpilles mountains near Eygalières. The parachute that brought him to safety was made of silk. While paying tribute to this hero of the French Resistance, Joanna Staniszkis uses this event to remind us that intensive silk production in the south of France came to an end shortly after World War II. Through her unique installations, the artist seeks to reveal the beauty of silk, this wonderful miracle of nature. Joanna Staniszkis is a Canadian textile artist and designer known for ambitious, large-scale works that bring fibre into dialogue with architecture. Educated first in Poland and later in the United States, she built an international practice shaped by deep research into textile traditions and a willingness to experiment with structure, surface, and material. Her work often features inventive processes — printing and dyeing, stamping, pleating, and other hand-driven techniques —combined with unconventional materials and cross -cultural references. Alongside her studio practice and commissioned installations held in public and private collections, Staniszkis has also taught for decades at the University of British Columbia, sharing methods that emphasize craft, curiosity, and a designer’s eye for scale. She divides her time between Vancouver, Canada, and an atelier in Provence. After the exhibit, we would enjoy a no host lunch in one of the cafes or restaurants in Eygalières.

Historical account reconstructed from La Table’s archived event materials.