Diego Gil
Before you even come to explore our exhibition, here's a way to get ready with music. The album covers we are showing are not just packaging: they are visual works in their own right, which shaped the image of rock as much as the records they protected. Through iconic sleeves, from Elvis to David Bowie, we want to show not only how music evolved, but how society changed in the mid-20th century. Here, in five songs (an obviously subjective list), is a modest soundtrack for the event.
By the way, did you know that the event's name comes from a song by...
An emblematic song from 1977, it marks a break with traditional pop formats. Influenced by Brian Eno and German electronic experiments, Bowie explores themes of isolation, personal rebuilding and the power of imagination.
In an exhibition devoted to record sleeves, Sound and Vision takes on special significance. Its title alone sums up the close relationship between music (« sound ») and image (« vision ») at the heart of rock culture. It reminds us that discovering an album is as much about looking as listening. This echoes the sleeves on display, which are not just packaging but genuine visual works that are fully part of the musicians' artistic identity.
The exhibition is firmly rooted in the world of rock. So it was impossible not to give pride of place to Elvis Presley, a founding figure and one of the main architects of the rise of rock and roll. Our journey begins with his first recordings and the sleeves that came with them.
Blue Suede Shoes is one of the first great rock'n'roll classics. Popularised by Elvis Presley in 1956, the song celebrates self-assertion and the free spirit of a youth looking for new landmarks.
This energy comes through in the album cover. Elvis appears in full motion, guitar in hand, totally absorbed in his performance. Far from the well-behaved portraits of the time, the image captures the excitement and spontaneity of this new music.
Ten years after Elvis was crowned, our four lads from Liverpool had already blown up the world music scene. Abbey Road continued an artistic drive towards silky melodies and a strong taste for novelty.
The record's cover remains the best known in music history. It's hard to choose a song to go with that image. Still, with a touch of irony, we chose Come Together, just as the Beatles, bogged down in disagreement, were living their last moments as a band.
An ordinary scene... Two expressionless men shake hands in the middle of a Hollywood studio. Yet look closer and one of them is literally on fire.
The result of a well-established collaboration with the Hipgnosis collective, the cover of Wish You Were Here remains one of the most unusual in rock history.
Regarded as one of the major punk rock albums, Rocket to Russia captures all of the Ramones' energy. Known for their short, fast and melodic songs, the band would have a profound influence on rock in the decades that followed.
The cover shows the four band members in a New York street, wearing their leather jackets. Simple and direct, it perfectly reflects the spirit of punk: authenticity, attitude and a rejection of artifice... while hinting at a dark nihilism in that brick street.
From David Bowie's 1977 song on the album Low. In two words it says what the exhibition explores: you discover a record as much by looking as by listening.
The Beatles' Abbey Road (1969) is regularly cited as the most recognisable in music history, to the point of becoming a place of pilgrimage in London.
The British collective Hipgnosis, which created some of rock's most unusual images, including the cover of Wish You Were Here with its stuntman in flames.
At the Gaztelu Market Hall in Hendaye, from 31 July to 2 August 2026, as part of Crossed Perspectives #1, Sound and Vision. Free entry: Friday 2pm-7pm, Saturday and Sunday 10am-7pm.
This playlist is just a taster. Crossed Perspectives #1, Sound and Vision takes place from 31 July to 2 August at the Gaztelu Market Hall (Hendaye), with free entry: the sleeves on display, Simon Arcache's film photographs, two talks, a screening and music.
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