Fourth step in the construction of the Monument aux Vivant-e-s by artist Gaëlle Choisne, FESTIVAL DÉPRESSION mixes cinema, music and performance to address the « mental decompression » caused by the violence suffered by racialized people.

In the grieving process, depression is the troubled moment of latency when one has no strength or hope. « Depression » also refers to the idea of decompression. For Gaëlle Choisne, the denunciation of the « generalized state of depression » among certain racialized people, linked to racism and the injustices they face, leads to a beginning of mental decompression.

In the Forum, the artist invites to a kind of collective care performed, thanks to the music and the word of her guests.

Gaëlle Choisne pays homage to the Haitian composer Carmen Brouard through her work And the sea says nothing, a silent film game, accompanied by musicians Lutxi Nesprias and Julen Zelaia who play La sonate vodouesque.
On the stage work Rainbow Tears, author and actress Jo Güstin celebrates black and queer culture by taking the audience on a journey through its legends. Ndayé Kouagou, artist and performer, follows her with an enigmatic performance based on his writings on discomfort, power and vulnerability.

Second step in the construction of the Monument aux Vivant-e-s by artist Gaëlle Choisne after CHOC, DÉNI associates the Aquarium to the unconscious, seat of this phase of the grieving process.

Several generations of men and women who became slaves were transported, traded, humiliated and mutilated, mistreated, killed without burial and died without a name. How to mourn?

The stage of Denial induces an unconscious, hidden dimension that we are not ready to see. The Tropical Aquarium becomes the privileged metaphorical place of the unconscious to develop this aspect of mourning. Located in the basement of the Palace, the Aquarium recalls the unconscious and subterranean dimensions of the human being as well as the shadowy parts of the being.

Here, the artist presents denial, the moment when it is difficult to become aware of what has happened. This phase of mourning is materialized by a series of engraved shells (reminiscent of those used in the West Indian trade) scattered in the aquariums of the Palais. The words and phrases inscribed are taken from a poem by Édouard Glissant from the collection Le Sel noir (1983). Some of the messages are directed towards the fish, others are visible to all.

Lorna Simpson is the mentor of artist Gaëlle Choisne for the third edition of the 2023 Reiffers Art Initiatives mentorship program. The exhibition will be presented at the Reiffers Art Center on the occasion of Art Basel Paris.

For this latest edition of its Mentorship Program, Reiffers Art Initiatives will present an exhibition by artist Gaëlle Choisne, accompanied by her mentor Lorna Simpson – a pioneer in the 80s of conceptual photography that closely links text and image – whose work has been exhibited in numerous prestigious art institutions and events, including the Venice Biennale in 1990. Born in Cherbourg and living in Paris, Gaëlle Choisne is a French artist whose artistic approach is guided by multiple inspirations. In her installations, created at the crossroads of sculpture and photography, she evokes her relationship with her Haitian origins. Represented by Galerie Air de Paris, the artist has already exhibited internationally, notably in London, Kyoto and the United States.