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Wednesday, October 18, 2023 at 6:00 pm
Salle cinéma Michel Piccoli
In the presence of Smaïl Kanouté
Screening followed by discussion with the public
Free event
As part of the third edition of the Romaeuropa Festival, Villa Medici is hosting a screening of Utaki by Smaïl Kanouté.
Utaki is a triptych of short dance films by choreographer and graphic designer Smaïl Kanouté. These three films reveal the painful situation of African diasporas, over time and around the world. Never Twenty One (Smaïl Kanouté, Henri Coutant and Kevin Gay – English / ST English) evokes gun violence in the Bronx. Yasuke Kurosan (Smaïl Kanouté and Abdou Diouri – Japanese / ST English) takes us to Japan in the footsteps of the African samurai and today’s Afro-Japanese crossbreeding. So Ava (Smaïl Kanouté and Henri Coutant – French / ST English) questions voodoo philosophy in contemporary dance.
The screening ends with the short film Banîles (7’27 – French / ST English), shot at the Villa Médicis during a residency in March 2022, in collaboration with critic and poet Chris Cyrille and Ateliers Médicis. Based on the story of Dante’s Divine Comedy, this metaphorical work transcribes the floors of high-rise buildings found in French suburbs and across the Atlantic.
Smaïl Kanouté
Smaïl Kanouté was born in Paris in 1986. Graduating with a Master’s degree in graphic design from ENSAD in 2012, the artist defines himself as a “choreographer” and self-taught dancer, inspired by his travels around the world. He gradually came into contact with major choreographers such as Raphaëlle Delaunay from 2011 to 2013, then Radhouane El Meddeb in 2014.
Founded in 2016 by Smaïl Kanouté, the Compagnie Vivons has since accompanied him on his own performance projects: from PROJECTION(S) in 2016 to THOUSAND AND ONE NIGHTS // VARIATIONS in 2020, as well as more personal works such as Yasuke Kurosan in 2022.
In 2021, he exhibited the short film Never Twenty One at MAC Lyon in the group exhibition Comme un parfum d’aventure, the short film Yasuke Kurosan, the black samurai at the Studio de la Maison Européenne de la Photographie.
In 2023, in collaboration with Native Maqari and Simon Rouby, he co-curated the group exhibition Détours d’un Quartier Monde at theInstitute of Islamic Cultures in Paris dedicated to the Goutte d’Or district, as part of the French government’s 2023 “New Worlds” stimulus plan. In residence in New Orleans and Miami as part of the Villa Albertinehe tours the show Never 21.
