HASAWA (Warren Harrington SAMUELSEN)

Born in 1981 at Victoria (Seychelles)

Hasawa, who studied at the Higher School of Art in Reunion and was also trained in the techniques of make-up and prosthesis for the cinema, is an artist whose expression is inspired by ritual, fantasy,  science-fiction and contemporary Creole poetry.  If the artist often associates performance and installation, it is because his artistic technique is closely linked to his personal history and he does not accept any form of pigeonholing.  His work relies both on mixing of techniques and involvement of the body. 

Fonnkorezy INsularis

installation-performance

The core of the structure consists in sculpted totem poles set in sand.  These figures, that Hasawa names ‘silent poets’ are like votive sculptures, guardians of a place of memory. With this installation as a background, Hasawa performs a ‘fonnker’ or personal text that he has written and that he recites.  Combining gesture and poetry, Hasawa brings out an element of local mythology, transmitted orally, thus creating what he calls a ‘ritual of flesh, word and gesture.’