Notebook 10, l'enfance de sanbras

2021 - Installation (Installation)

27 x 14 cm

Kelly Sinnapah Mary


Notebook 10 , l ‘enfance de sanbras (The Childhood of Sanbras) series by Kelly Sinnapah Mary is a sequel to an earlier series by the artist titled Cahier d’un non retour au pays natal (2015). This earlier work considers the process of reconstructing an identity of the Indian workers who arrived in the Caribbean during the post-slavery period. The work addresses the conditions of recruitment of these Indian workers, the strategies of the recruiters, how they lured them onto ships to bring them back to the plantations. Inspired by two authors, Aime Cesaire and Khal Torabully, the artist reinterprets masterworks of Caribbean literature. The Childhood of Sanbras series approaches another axis of reflection wherein Sinnapah Mary engages with her experiences and memories as a child, and the characters she identified with, while exploring current stories about the Indian diaspora in the French West Indies. Working with the concept of memory, her notebooks function like diaries in which characters take form and retell a story through drawings and sculptures that refer to a ludic universe of children. The series introduces the stories of Sanbras, a little girl in a school uniform and braids—an element so present in the artist’s practice that serves as a metaphor for the construction of identity through the gesture of braiding. The artist’s narrative mixes elements of Caribbean culture, Maroons, and Hinduism. Sanbras, in some of the works, has extra arms, legs, or a third eye. The little girl meets other friends throughout the story and builds a community. This resilient new village formed by Sanbras is a reference to the Marronage, of which she is part and wishes to build a new ecosystem. In the sculptures that accompany the notebooks, the artist explores Sanbras in a more material and corporeal manner, giving another dimension to the character through an ingenuous naivety.


Kelly Sinnapah Mary is a multidisciplinary artist who’s work is informed by the diasporic journey of her ancestors. She is the descendant of indentured laborers sent from India to Guadeloupe by the French Government in the 19th century to replace the free labor of the transatlantic slave trade. Sinnapah Mary’s practice reflects on her Indo-Caribbean identity by unpacking the details of her ancestors’ middle passage to Guadeloupe. Through the lens of science fiction, she often explores the so-called feminine universe; working with floral themes, soft materials, and fairy tales, using techniques that contrast the poignant and politically charged subject matter she addresses. From this friction, Sinnapah Mary traces her ethnic heritage, while questioning her roots as someone caught in two nested worlds—confronting concepts of ‘negritude’ and ‘coolitude’. ‘Coolie’, an expression coined by Caribbean poet Khal Torabully, is a pejorative name given to Indians who migrated to the Caribbean.


Colors:



Related works sharing similar palette

“believe you HAVE to do it”
© » THE JEALOUS CURATOR

You guys, somehow I managed to get American artist Sandy Skoglund on my podcast! I actually learned about Sandy in an art history class waaaay back in the early 90’s, and here we are today, chatting!? We talked for over 2 hours, and every story was a gem...

A Change of Perspective — Ndayé Kouagou
© » SLASH PARIS

A Change of Perspective — Ndayé Kouagou — Frac île-de-france, le Plateau — Exposition — Slash Paris Connexion Newsletter Twitter Facebook A Change of Perspective — Ndayé Kouagou — Frac île-de-france, le Plateau — Exposition — Slash Paris Français English Accueil Événements Artistes Lieux Magazine Vidéos Retour A Change of Perspective — Ndayé Kouagou Exposition Film, performance, techniques mixtes, vidéo À venir Ndayé Kouagou, A coin is a coin, 2022 © Ndayé Kouagou A Change of Perspective Ndayé Kouagou Dans 2 mois : 21 septembre 2023 → 18 février 2024 Emblématique des artistes de sa génération, Ndayé Kouagou n’établit pas de hiérarchie entre ses différentes pratiques articulées autour du langage...

Sur Journal & Tradición vs. Modernidad launch
© » KADIST

Wednesday, December 10 Drinks at 6pm, event at 7pm Kadist launches two new publications from Mexico City-based Guayaba Press , each a collaboration between SF-based Kristina Lee Podesva and DF-based Rodrigo Ortiz Monasterio...

Censorship Snapshot: Unclear Guidelines
© » ARTS EQUATOR

Censorship Snapshot: Unclear Guidelines | ArtsEquator Skip to content Artist Ngo Dinh Bao Chau shares her experience with the ambiguous censorship guidelines in Vietnam with curator Linh Le...

Roca Carbón (Charcoal Rock)
© » KADIST

Mateo Lopez

2012

With Roca Carbón (Charcoal Rock, 2012) and Roca Grafito ( Graphite Rock , 2012), López plays with our relationship to inert and unremarkable objects such as rocks...

Programs: de montañas submarinas el fuego hace islas
© » KADIST

Saturday, January 20, 2023, 1.30 pm (off-site) Performance by Duto Hardono, Variation & Improvisation for ‘In Harmonia Progressio’ (2017) at the Asian Art Museum Presented at and in collaboration with the Asian Art Museum, as part of Speculative Fabulation: New Voices, New Stories at the Asian Art Museum Friday, February 2, 2024, 7–9 pm The Fugue of the Cicada Songs An evening of sound performances organized in collaboration with Cone Shape Top, on the occasion of the launch of de montañas submarinas el fuego hace islas : Reader Volume Two co-published with Sming Sming Books Thursday, February 8, 2024, 5 pm (off-site) Yina Jiménez Suriel in conversation with Natalia Brizuela, Professor of Film & Media and Spanish & Portuguese Presented at and in collaboration with the University of California, Berkeley’s Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies: 2334 Bowditch St, Berkeley, CA 94720 Wednesday, February 10, 2024, available to view on KADIST.tv from February 19, 2024 (this program takes place off-site and online) de montañas submarinas el fuego hace islas , screening program co-curated by Yina Jiménez Suriel and Arianna Mercado at MCAD Manila – Museum of Contemporary Art and Design, Manila de montañas submarinas el fuego hace islas , reader A bi-lingual reader, co-published with Sming Sming Books, with the support of the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies, University of California, Berkeley will be available in February 2024...

Chimeric Antibodies 1 and 3
© » KADIST

Angela Su

2011

From afar, Chimeric Antibodies by Angela Su may look like scientific drawings or botanical illustrations...

Head in Hands
© » KADIST

Joe Biel

2007

Head in Hands by Joe Biel is part of a larger series of drawings made in connection with the book of short stories Navigating Ghosts by Annie Buckley...

Abraham Cruzvillegas Part 3
© » KADIST

This interview with Abraham Cruzvillegas takes place in Mexico City, D...

Process of Blowing Flour
© » KADIST

Koki Tanaka

2010

Tanaka’s unique understanding of objects and materials is reflected in the four photographs that document his Process of Blowing Flour ...

Muster (Rushes, 2011-2012) by Clemens Von Wedemeyer
© » KADIST

A private preview of a new film produced for dOCUMENTA (13), followed by a conversation with political philosopher Florian Grosser...

Miercoles cerca de las 7 de la tarde (Clepsidra series)
© » KADIST

Carolina Fusilier

2023

Miercoles cerca de las 7 de la tarde by Caroline Fusilier portrays two quantum computers that are mobile, with human-esque legs, these are systems at the edge of biology...

Plain-Spoken Performance Art: A Conversation with Laurie Anderson
© » LITHUB

Plain-Spoken Performance Art: A Conversation with Laurie Anderson ‹ Literary Hub Craft and Criticism Fiction and Poetry News and Culture Lit Hub Radio Reading Lists Book Marks CrimeReads About Log In Literary Hub Craft and Criticism Literary Criticism Craft and Advice In Conversation On Translation Fiction and Poetry Short Story From the Novel Poem News and Culture The Virtual Book Channel Film and TV Music Art and Photography Food Travel Style Design Science Technology History Biography Memoir Bookstores and Libraries Freeman’s Sports The Hub Lit Hub Radio Behind the Mic Beyond the Page The Cosmic Library Emergence Magazine Fiction/Non/Fiction First Draft: A Dialogue on Writing Just the Right Book Keen On Literary Disco The Literary Life with Mitchell Kaplan The Maris Review New Books Network Open Form Otherppl with Brad Listi So Many Damn Books Thresholds Tor Presents: Voyage Into Genre Windham-Campbell Prizes Podcast WMFA Reading Lists The Best of the Decade Book Marks Best Reviewed Books BookMarks Daily Giveaway CrimeReads True Crime The Daily Thrill CrimeReads Daily Giveaway Log In Via Columbia University Press Plain-Spoken Performance Art: A Conversation with Laurie Anderson Brooke Wentz Talks to the Legendary Artist about Art School, Eavesdropping, and the Avant-Garde By Brooke Wentz December 8, 2023 The first thing you notice about Laurie Anderson is her voice...

Land art, art conceptuel révisés et réactualisés par la Critical Race Theory- Cameron Rowland (1)
© » LE BEAU VICE

Le Beau Vice: Land art, art conceptuel révisés et réactualisés par la Critical Race Theory- Cameron Rowland (1)...

A Change of Perspective — Ndayé Kouagou
© » SLASH PARIS

A Change of Perspective — Ndayé Kouagou — Frac île-de-france, le Plateau — Exhibition — Slash Paris Login Newsletter Twitter Facebook A Change of Perspective — Ndayé Kouagou — Frac île-de-france, le Plateau — Exhibition — Slash Paris English Français Home Events Artists Venues Magazine Videos Back A Change of Perspective — Ndayé Kouagou Exhibition Film, performance, mixed media, video Upcoming Ndayé Kouagou, A coin is a coin, 2022 © Ndayé Kouagou A Change of Perspective Ndayé Kouagou In 2 months: September 21, 2023 → February 18, 2024 Emblematic of the artists of his generation, Ndayé Kouagou does not establish a hierarchy between his different language-based practices...

Chair Stories
© » ARTS EQUATOR

Chair Stories | ArtsEquator Skip to content In this visual essay, puppet maker and designer Daniel Sim, begins with a set of rejected stage chairs, and ends up on a lyrical journey through Singapore's theatre history...

Related 3a
© » KADIST

Anthony Goicolea

2008

Goicolea has made drawings based on a family album of relations that he did not know but who in one way or another contributed to his history and to the predicament in which he now finds himself as a Cuban in America...

Iris Tingitana Oxalis
© » KADIST

Yto Barrada

2007

This photograph is part of the series titled “Iris Tingitana project” (2007) focusing on the disappearance of the iris...