Minia Biabiany: Difé

Palais de Tokyo presents a solo exhibition of artist Minia Biabiany, “Difé.” Curated by Yoann Gourmel, the artist uses natural, processed, and manufactured materials to interrogate relationships in a Caribbean and Guadeloupean context. Titled after the Creole word for “fire,” the presentation explores tense colonial histories and the challenges of assimilation with great sensitivity, promoting dialogue and fierce self-expression. Banana trees are delicately formed from burnt wood, while ceramic pathways create a moving alphabet. The trees tell of the dark exploitation of the people of Guadeloupe, expressing a narrative of trauma and complex personal relationships. Biabiany’s solo show extends into the group exhibition “Scheherazade, at night” in which her installation “nuit” is composed of traditional woven creel, a system of traps, and speaks of the water, a moving cemetery. Accompanying and elaborate sculpture-work evokes a history of violence, slave trade, and disappearing architecture, playing out in a hauntingly poetic and political symphony.