Samuel Gaillac
Olivier Morin
Bruniquel, a French village lost in the countryside of the Tarn et Garonne a few hours from Toulouse.
In this village where I spent most of my summers as a child I used to see and play with the local youth.
Among the teenagers living in the village Samuel always stood out. Behind his laid back looks Samuel hid, from seasonal visitors like me, his true nature.
Fast forward to 2020 and the Coronavirus. I couldn’t imagine doing another lockdown in Paris. So during the summer of 2020 I decided to move to the Bruniquel until things got less unbearable in Paris. From this point I stayed in Bruniquel for a year.
During this year in the village, I took the chance to work on helping with the renovation of our house.
This is when I reconnected with Samuel Gaillac.
Samuel now was in charge of building anything that was made of stone.
During my time helping SamueI discovered that he loves to talk, sing and make as many dad jokes as he can. More importantly, he has a passion for history, ancient artifacts and civilizations.
This probably comes from the fact that he literally lives on an archaeological site.
Bruniquel is an amazing archeological site. From hidden Neanderthal sites to medieval architecture, Bruniquel history is massive.
However for Samuel it wasn’t medieval architecture or prehistoric sites that ignited a passion in him. Interestingly it was the Aztecs and their stone building marvels that brought Samuel to then develop a true passion and expertise in medieval dry stone building techniques.
However reality is tough in this part of France.
Access to information, education and opportunities are hard to come by.
A determination of steel and the will to move somewhere else is needed if you want to pursue a higher education. A path not everyone takes. Different reasons could explain this. It is interesting to see how many refuse to leave because of the attachment they have towards the village. To a point where they almost never leave the village or won’t go any further than an hour away. They feel like they belong here and nowhere else. Some will go on to set up business in the village, making the village more active, attracting more tourists and therefore more money for the village. Those people that stay and invest in their hometown are the only reason why villages such as Bruniquel still exist.
a small part of the dirt that Samuel excavates
Only the essentials are needed
This sums up the amount of equipment Samuel uses
Almost looks like a archeological dig site
Samuel Gaillac is one of those people.
Samuel had always been interested in history and archeology. Good at school, responsible and shy, Samuel followed the usual path when you grow up in a small village like Bruniquel, primary school in the village and when you get older the only school available is 35 minutes away.
Quickly the question started to appear, “do I stay here or do I go study in a big french city?”.
Unlike his brother who went on to become a manga comic artist in Japan, Samuel could not leave. He could not leave his village where he discovered his passion.
So Samuel did whatever he could to find a way to mix his passion with work. He went on to study the art of dry stone building with traditional techniques. He managed, in very manual work, to still bring parts of his passion with it.
He now works as the main traditional dry stone builder in Bruniquel. He recently remade a wall from the village Castle, a local newspaper even went on to do an article about him. He often calls on to a friend who shares his taste for well made dry stone walls for help on big projects.
By talking with him, it’s amazing to see how he perceives his work. He takes an archeological mindset when working. He will excavate the whole terrain and most of the time he finds small artifacts or some clues of the village's past constructions. Each project he takes on in the village is always entertaining as he unearths bits from the past. Knowing that what he will build will then stay for hundreds of years in harmony of what is still here makes the whole work even more meaningful.
Samuel’s goal is to renovate as much of the village as he can in the most traditional way possible. Although making traditional dry stone walls is his expertise he will sometimes include some "recent" techniques to assure the quality of his craft. to ensure that these traditional ways can be shared he even went on to be a part of different associations that closely work with the village’s council to rebuild the village ad teach the craft to volunteers.
However Samuel is a victim of his own success. Booked months ahead, finding time to rest is no easy task.
Samuel is lucky enough to have a passion that he could turn into something profitable and useful for the community. I know he doesn’t have an ounce of regret in the choice that he made. But sometimes I wonder, was it really by choice?
a good example on how Samuel uses traditional techniques, with his work on the front and the old wall behind him. both are build the same
In order to keep track of the stones he has Samuel builds what's called "pierreriers" in french.
besides his hand Samuel uses very few tools, a hammer and some wood are used to fit the stone in place on a staircase
