Des grains de poussière sur la mer — Sculpture contemporaine des Caraïbes françaises et d’Haïti — La Ferme du Buisson, Centre d’art contemporain — Exhibition — Slash Paris

Past: October 15, 2022 → January 29, 2023

In 1964, French President Charles de Gaulle visited Martinique, Guadeloupe and French Guiana on an official state visit. Overflying the Caribbean, de Gaulle described the islands as “dust specks on the sea.”¹. This famous quote evokes the almost otherworldly mystery of an aerial view of the Caribbean archipelago, while at the same time revealing a deep-seated hierarchical perspective of the region, stemming from France’s history as a powerful colonizing force in the Caribbean. De Gaulle was overtly emphasising the paternalist political metaphor, convinced in the course of his visit and in the company of the writer and politician Aimé Césaire, that “you don’t build a state on dust.”²

In bringing together works by twenty-six artists from Guadeloupe, Martinique, French Guiana and Haiti, “Dust Specks on the Sea” defies this colonial image by opting for a powerful density and materiality. It presents various approaches to subject matter, materials, and process that speak to contemporary practices of artists from this region, underscoring their participation in a globalized art world and putting pressure on notions of who is at its “center” and who is on its “periphery.” The medium specific, sculpture-based exhibition presents artwork in a distinctive way and integrated way, evoking a network of ideas around heritage, history, identity, community, and politics.

¹ The story is recounted by Betsy Wing in her “Translator’s Introduction” in Édouard Glissant, Poetics of Relation (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2010), p. 13

² https://www.lemonde.fr/archives/article/1964/03/24/le-depute-de-la-martinique-on-ne-pourra-pas-eluder-plus-long­temps-le-probleme-de-la-refonte-de-nos-institutions_2120778_1819218.html