In the juxtaposition of the two video works Primitive Accumulation and Primitive Amnesia, Choisne imagines a genealogy of the Temple of Love and honours female and transfeminine persons as its pioneers. An interview with the Haitian voodoo priestess Madame Café and ‘docteur-feuille’ (“leaf doctor”), conversations with the artist and producer Christelle Oyiri (*1992) and Choisne’s mother, Marie-Carmen Brouard, provide insights into the experiences of racialised women in today’s society. The stories are interwoven with archive footage by the artist, poetic recollections of Haiti, music videos and films, as well as various references from the internet. In parallel, Choisne combines in Primitive Amnesia a selection of videos of women’s protests in France, Brazil and Haiti with close-ups of flowers that she recorded during the COVID-19 lockdown in Normandy.

The title of Primitive Accumulation refers to the concept of the same name according to Karl Marx (“Das Kapital”, 1867) and describes the expropriation of the immediate producers from their means of production in capitalist modes of production. Choisne draws an analogy to the dispossession of female and racialised people from their being and free will as well as the suppression of their physical self-determination in patriarchal systems. Among other things, she refers to the exploitation of enslaved people to secure the prosperity of European colonial powers during colonialism as well as the oppression of women and their bodily autonomy. In both videos works, the artist visualises individual and collective resistance struggles and emphasises that in Temple of Love, the concept of healing goes far beyond physical and spiritual dimensions and includes political emancipation processes.

The flags were inspired by political banners used during elections in Haiti and were made in Port-au-Prince by the graphic designer James Ford Auguste. The bricks reference those used as ballast by Northern European ships deployed in the triangular trade. In the center of the pool is a lingam stone, which holds healing properties and the ability to protect against bad energy.

Presentation with support from Institut Français de Suède
Curator: Lisa Rosendahl
Guest: James Ford Auguste

On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of Nuit Blanche, the artist invests in Japan the Rohm Theatre in Kyoto and revisits the Temple of Love — Affirmation, originally conceived for the Museum of Modern Art in Paris during the 2020 Parisian event.

In an interplay between interior and exterior, a sound and light installation, at the entrance of the theater, combines the recitation of « decolonial mantras » with lush vegetation. Local medicinal, aromatic, exotic and edible plants are assembled according to the design of permaculture and traditional Creole gardens, respecting their balance and an animist conception of nature. In a scenic space, with original costumes of the artist decorated with Japanese accessories, a dance-performance takes place through the windows. The spirituality emanating from the mantra plants resonates with the sensuality, the vibrations and the body language of the dancers.

After an inaugural voguing performance in Paris, the Kyoto performance is singled out by its reference to butoh, a Japanese contemporary dance that expresses universal concepts and questions the dualities of human/non-human, feminine/masculine, beautiful/ugly, agony/extasy. The Temple of Love blends these universes and energies in a magical, creative and emancipating alchemy, a celebration of the living world that affirms, like Barthes, love as a value.

The performance was realized in collaboration with Daiji Meguro (choreographer and dancer), Moe Matsuki, Sho Takiguchi and Ryonosuke Endo (dancers).
Co-organizer: ROHM Theatre Kyoto (Kyoto City music art cultural Promoting Foundation)
Partner: Musée d’Art moderne de Paris
Concept: Gaëlle Choisne
Stage direction (Kyoto version): Daiji Meguro
Performers: Ryohosuke Endo, Sho Gakiguchi, Moe Matsuki, Daiji Meguro
Curator: Nadia Chalbi