Who is Julien Creuzet, the Caribbean artist representing France at the Venice Biennale?
Julien Creuzet – the first French-Caribbean artist to represent France at the Venice Biennale – is showing a multi-sensory exhibition that reflects on the intercultural identities of African and Caribbean diasporas.
Born in a northeastern Paris suburb, Creuzet moved to Martinique at the age of four.
While he returned to France at the age of 20 to study at art schools in Caen, Lyon and Tourcoing, his artwork remains heavily influenced by the Caribbean island where he grew up, and his art-loving parents.
Creuzet is known for installations that combine poetry, sculpture, and film, focusing on personal history, marginalised identities, and colonial legacies.
His Venice presentation is titled “Attila cataract your source at the feet of the green pitons will end in the great sea blue abyss we drowned in the tears tides of the moon”.
It reveals the artist’s penchant for long poetic titles that point to underlying themes as well as for creating sensory work that prompts the audience to question themselves.
The installation features an imaginary bridge between Martinique, France, and Venice. It includes six videos, 80 sculptures, a musical work, a catalogue in several languages and nearly 70 sound pieces by different speakers.
From France to Martinique to Italy
The international jury that chose Creuzet to headline for France said they were drawn to his “plurality of practices”.
It was the first time in the Biennale’s 60-year history that a national pavilion launched outside of Europe.
The French Pavilion, featuring Creuzet’s work, was built in 1912.
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