EX-POSE(S). Two duets, two emblematic sculptors of the twentieth century from which one and the other are inspired. On the one hand the Frenchman Henri Laurens, on the other the Senegalese Ousmane Sow. On one side La Petite Musicienne (1937) and La Petite Espagnole (1954) by the former. On the other hand, the latter’s Lutteurs corps à corps (1988).
Two very different sculptors and two equally distant performances. If on the one hand we have the representation of a joyful sisterhood, on the other we see a disturbing fraternity. The close proximity of the pieces resonates the distance between the two generations of sculptors, who have probably never met. And in order to set the sculptures in motion, it is not by chance that the two choreographers have chosen young performers all coming from the northern shores of the Mediterranean: Tunisia, Morocco, Egypt. All former French colonies: and so it is as if history itself were resonating in the representation of sisterhood and struggle. The Tunisian origins of Héla Fattoumi and the numerous links created with artists from the Maghreb and sub-Saharan Africa, have led to the creation of shows with a strong social tone, addressing, for example, the notion of “homosexuality” in the Arab-Muslim world, the problems and aesthetics of the niqab… They are currently involved in a cross-border and international cooperation project.