Bal Pays

A poetic journey between past, present and future, this original collaborative performance is a tribute to the Creole dance traditions practised in the West Indies. Conceived in dialogue with the exhibition Quelque part dans la nuit, le peuple danse, it is composed in three parts, bringing together a traditional Guadeloupean quadrille association, dancers and musicians. Bal Pays is a romanticised nocturnal ball, a moment of collective expression in which each performer brings his or her own artistic singularity to the ensemble. The quadrille dance and its commands form the backbone of the performance. This performance questions the history of traditional dance and music practices in the Caribbean, at the crossroads of African and European cultures, and links them to practices that have emerged in recent decades. At night, a place of reinvention and creative possibilities, this reconfigured quadrille opens up to the public for its grand finale.

Raphaël Barontini

Barontini's work questions the historical canons which permeate cultures and territories which have experienced slavery and colonization. His approach invites us to explore new imaginaries, as well as narratives that encompass a diverse history. His representations, banners, tapestries and ceremonial capes interrogate representations of power, its ceremonial aspect and its potentially carnivalesque subversion. To do so, he uses a unique technique of visual collage that combines painting, serigraphy and digital prints. He defines himself not as a historian but as a storyteller. His research work opens narratives and representations that are unique to him. His practice builds alternative narratives that put forward various heroes and heroines – real or fictional.

Raphaël Barontini was born in 1984 in Saint-Denis, where he lives and works. For the 2024 Nuit blanche event, he created the performance Déboulé céleste. His personal exhibition, I live a journey of a thousand years was presented in the spring of 2024 in the Currier Museum of Art (Manchester, USA). In 2023, he created a unique exhibition and performance in the Panthéon in Paris, We Could Be Heroes. Among his most recent collective exhibitions, we can name Des grains de poussière sur la mer (Friche la Belle de Mai, Marseille, 2024), Globalisto. Une philosophie en mouvement(MAMC +, Saint-Étienne, 2022), Possédé·e·s (MO.CO, Montpellier, 2020). He is represented by the Mariane Ibrahim Gallery (Chicago, Paris, Mexico)