Film Screening: Diapositives by Madafi Pierre

Date and Time

December 11, 2023 6.30 pm - 8.30 pm

Venue

Studio of U5, Flüelastrasse 6, 8048 Zürich

Abstract

In her documentary Diapositives, the artist and filmmaker Madafi Pierre portrays five people of Haitian origin living in Switzerland. Pierre takes a global look at Haiti and Switzerland and asks what the connections between these two countries are and what life in Switzerland is like from a Haitian perspective. Diapositives addresses questions of planned and unplanned mobility, migration, as well as of belonging and feelings of home, which cannot (necessarily) be tied to territories.

With KRIK KRAK, Pierre uses a mode of storytelling in the form of call-and-response, which is rooted in Haitian culture. Since Haiti is the country of the first Black revolution, starting in 1791, the film simultaneously involves a broader conversation about the way we think about historiography and European colonization. We therefore also engage with the question of how to decolonize knowledge production.

The screening will be followed by a Q&A. Over drinks, finger food, and music there will be the opportunity to continue the discussion informally.

The screening is organized by Bettina Gräf and Rebecca Sauer (Institute of Asian and Oriental Studies, University of Zurich and Dora Imhof and U5 (SNSF research project “Conflict and Cooperation”, Institute of Art History, University of Zurich)