Press Release
Pays rêvé, pays réel
A proposal by Lucien Terras
Esther Schipper Paris
Originally held in two locations, at Esther Schipper Paris and Galerie Natalie Seroussi, the exhibition brings together works by Merikokeb Berhanu, Sanford Biggers, Julien Creuzet, Leslie Hewitt, Leslie Hewitt in collaboration with Jamal Cyrus, Jason Moran, Alex Gardner, Simone Leigh, Arjan Martins, Roberto Matta, Moké, and Thomias Radin.
On view at Esther Schipper Paris between August 25 — September 25 are works by Merikokeb Berhanu, Sanford Biggers, Julien Creuzet, Jamal Cyrus, Leslie Hewitt, Jason Moran, and Thomias Radin.
Pays rêvé, pays réel takes its title from a 1985 poetry collection by Édouard Glissant (1928–2011) and draws inspiration from the Martinican writer, poet, and philosopher’s long-lasting influence on contemporary artistic practices across the African diaspora. The exhibition features artists whose work engages with histories of migration, memory, language and belonging, contemplating the diasporic experience as lived reality and as imagined space. Rooted in the Caribbean but attentive to the interconnectedness of cultures and people, and tracing links between Africa, Europe and the Americas, Glissant’s writing continues to serve as a framework for artists to think through identity beyond fixed origins or singular narratives. His ideas reverberate in works that navigate fractured histories, overlapping geographies and the poetic possibilities of transformation. Through painting, sculpture, sound, and video, Pays rêvé, pays réel considers how contemporary artists inherit and expand Glissant’s legacy, creating new visual and conceptual languages for understanding the complexities of the African diaspora today.