Solo show, La Verrière, Fondation d'entreprise Hermès, Brussels, 2020
Exhibition realised thanks to the support of the Fondation d’entreprise Hermès
Installation with the video musa, wood sculptures, white wicker structures, thread, wall drawing with thread, petals of banana flower
The third artist invited by Guillaume Désanges , Minia Biabiany, contributes to the Matters of Concern | Matières à panser cycle with the exhibition musa nuit: a reflection on the sexuality of Guadeloupean and Caribbean women today and how it remains unconsciously marked by history. In the Brussels space, the visual artist creates a sensual and metaphorical journey, where handcrafted objects, sculptures, and a banana flower (also known as musa) contribute to the reactivation of a repressed memory. Born in Guadeloupe (France) in 1988, Minia Biabiany envisions the exhibition as a ritual, allowing her to address questions of identity in a way that is both poetic and politically engaged.
Punctuated by vertical threads appearing and disappearing with the presence of a strong natural light, the installa- tion musa nuit observes the connection between female sexuality and the historical heritage of slavery. It uses the figure of the banana flower as a starting point. One of the properties of the musa flower (name of the banana tree in latin) is to heal the uterus. First thought to be touched, the sculptures in wood hold a narrative linking territory, female sexual organs, and mythic figures (like manman dlo or the volcano la Soufrière). They guide the spectator throughout a space structured by weavings expanding in frames and building a layered architecture both intimate and revealed.
© Isabelle Arthuis