Kanak exhibition, quai Branly Museum, Paris
Scenographic installation of the Kanak exhibition
The proposed scenography consists of a three-dimensional installation. To symbolise exchange, the fundamental and unifying principle of Kanak culture, a large network of woven threads winds its way around the entire exhibition space. It is accompanied by a soundtrack, in which we have represented speech, the cornerstone of the oral tradition.
The exhibition structure was designed to create a guided tour symbolising the exchange matrix, the tradition of sharing, fundamental values in the Kanak identity.
Metaphors of the cultural fractures and negation undergone by the Kanak people are presented as clinically white forms which alter the balance of the scenery’s mesh, and block the flow of the itinerary of exhibition visitors. The combination of three symbolic elements – the matrix; attachment to roots and tradition; the Western viewpoint – is the founding principle behind the exhibition.
