Des grains de poussière sur la mer

Des grains de poussière sur la mer (Dust grains on the sea) is an exhibition on contemporary sculptures from the French Caribbean and Haiti. Based on the medium of sculpture, works by twenty-eight artists from Guadeloupe, Martinique, French Guiana and Haiti are presented.

In 1964, on a state visit to Martinique, Guadeloupe and French Guiana, Charles de Gaulle flew over the Caribbean Sea, describing the islands as “grains of dust on the sea”. While this quotation from the former president evokes the mysterious, almost supernatural effect that an aerial view of the Caribbean archipelago can have, it is also indicative of the overhanging perspective from which the region is perceived – a perspective whose roots lie in France’s history as a colonial power in the Caribbean. De Gaulle would endorse the paternalistic political metaphor, confiding during the same visit and in the presence of writer and politician Aimé Césaire that “you don’t build a state on dust”.

Bringing together works by twenty-six artists from Guadeloupe, Martinique, French Guiana and Haiti, the exhibition challenges this colonial image by presenting works of great density and materiality. Conceived from the medium of sculpture, Des grains de poussière sur la mer features a number of material and conceptual approaches that bear witness to the practices of artists from this part of the world, while posing the question of who is at the “center” and who is at the “periphery”. Placed nearby and in direct conversation with one another, the works form a network of ideas around heritage, history, identity, the social body and politics.

Guest artists : Raphaël Barontini, Sylvia Berté, Julie Bessard, Hervé Beuze, Jean-François Boclé, Ernest Breleur, Alex Burke, Vladimir Cybil Charlier, Gaëlle Choisne, Ronald Cyrille, Jean-Ulrick Désert, Kenny Dunkan, Edouard Duval-Carrié, Adler Guerrier, Jean-Marc Hunt, Nathalie Leroy Fiévée, Audry Liseron-Monfils, Louisa Marajo, Ricardo Ozier-Lafontaine, Jérémie Paul, Marielle Plaisir, Michelle Lisa Polissaint and Najja Moon, Tabita Rezaire, Françoise Sémiramoth, Yoan Sorin, Jude Papaloko Thegenus, Kira Tippenhauer.

La Friche

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