Diaspora Pavilion 2: Venice. Zot Konn - Yeman / They know - the wise / Lo conoscono - il saggio

For ICF’s Diaspora Pavilion 2: Venice, Shiraz Bayjoo presents a new performance and installation in collaboration with Nicolas Faubert and Siyabonga Mthembu during the vernissage of the 59th Venice Biennale. This new commission, conceived by Bayjoo, features moving image, sculptural installation, choreographed movement enacted by Faubert and vocal performances by Mthembu.

Visitors are invited to attend live performances between today and April 22nd, held three times daily, at noon, 3pm and 6pm in the Groggia Theatre, located in one of the few publicly accessible parks in Venice.

The title Zot Konn – Yeman brings together Mauritian Creole and the Bantu language Fang, merging the two African languages spoken by Bayjoo and Faubert’s ancestors. Translated as ‘they know – the wise’ the title refers to a collective questioning of existing systems of knowledge and an active pursuit of wisdom. The works in the installation feature still and moving images captured by Bayjoo of plants, archives and architectures found at Kew Gardens in London during a period of research that sought to interrogate the transplantation of species from Mauritius to the UK during colonial rule and their current place in the nation’s archives.
 

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