Who I Am
As a multi disciplinary artist, I investigate the interconnections between African history and the construction of the western narrative. My interdisciplinary practice includes music, poetry, video, painting, photography, performance, sculpture and installation.
I try to analyze social behaviors and injustices from my multicultural ethnic point of view, as a form of resistance. My work is rooted in questions of identity, representation, segregation, power dynamic, etc…
Born in London from a Congolese father and a Mauritian mother who met in Russia, I have lived for more than 30 years in Aulnay sous bois, a Parisian disfranchised suburb. I started my artistic path writing poetry on vibrant beats influenced by the American Hip Hop culture. I believe that arts engagement is a way to both understand and shape this life for the greater good.
Curriculum vitae
December 1981 Born in London, United Kingdom
1987-1988 Resident of Mahébourg city, Mauritius island
1983 – present Lives and works in Paris, France
Solo shows
March 2024 Piece of India and Indigo# movement (Paradise art center, Nantes, France), 1 month
January 2024 Los Angeles : It snows in my paradise (Paradise art center, Nantes, France), 1 month
April 2023 Ex-poto (Saint Denis basilica, Saint Denis, France), 4 months
February 2022 Afropeanculture# (Ferme du Vieux Pays, Aulnay sous bois, France), 2 weeks
December 2019 If You Don’t Understand What We Say…Excuse Us And If You Think We Lie Accuse Us (Visual Artists Group gallery, Los Angeles), 1 month
Groupe shows
September 2022 État(s) De Matière (Verrecchia art fund, Versailles, France), 2 weeks
September 2021 Ali To L.A. (Transformative Arts, Los Angeles, USA), 1 month
February 2020 Art On Mind (Galerie Visuial Artists Group, Los Angeles, USA), 1 month
November 2018 Made In France (Amperand Studio, Miami, USA), 1 month
October 2017 Work of Heart art show (Gallery 300, Santa Rosa, USA), 1 month
May 2017 Slavery abolition anniversary (Aimé Césaire house at Gennevilliers, France), 1 month
Residencies
September 2024 Work about urban space and the suburb with La Source- Garouste organization in partnership with Rodin museum (Meudon, France) at Rodin Museum, 3 months
January 2024 Work about History of Slavery in Nantes (France) at Paradise contemporary art center (Nantes, France), 3 months
September 2023 Performance work at Newcastle Contemporary art gallery (Newcastle, UK), 1 month
April 2022 Carving and engraving work (lime stone) at Chateau de La Maye with Verrecchia art fund (Versailles, France), 4 months
August 2021 Work of painting with Transformative Arts (american non profitable organization) (Evora, Portugal), 1 month
July 2010 Creation of music with local artists sponsored by the Ministry of Culture of Niger (Niamey, Niger), 2 months
Social practice projects
February 2024 Exhibition of unaccompanied minor migrants artworks at Paradise contemporary art Center (Nantes city) with the collaboration of Médecins du Monde NGO
2016- present Workshops (drawing, painting, sculpture, etc…) with autistic children from medical-educational institute René Lalouette in Aulnay sous bois city (disfranchised suburb of Paris)
March 2019 Public sculpture made with people from Aulnay sous bois (disfranchised suburb of Paris) with the collaboration of the City.
Commissions
May 2025 Ex-Poto installation will be installed permanently in Bondy city (suburb of Paris) Commissioned by Verrecchia art fund and the city of Bondy
December 2024 Acquisition of the installation Earth Mercy Me by the Seine Saint Denis department (France)
2027 New sculpture will be installed permanently in Velizy-Villacoublay city (suburb of Paris) Commissioned by Verrecchia art fund and the city of Velizy-Villacoublay
Award
March 2023 Label received from the french foundation for the remembrance of Slavery regarding my installation Ex-Poto
Education
2005-2006 Master of Business Administration (MBA), Marketing International program at École Supérieure Du Commerce Extérieur Paris business school (La Défense, Paris)
2005 Bachelor’s degree in International Business at University Paris VIII