In order to talk with the dead

In Order to Talk with the Dead follows the circulation of “trophy’’ skulls in relation to their home origin and the visitors to the museum. French colonialism is forever replicated in the museum by turning the skull into an object devoid of history. This erasure turns the skulls into pieces of art, leaving them without an origin, any explanation or name.

The video was shot in three locations: the Jericho desert, the Musée de l’Homme and the Catacombs in Paris. Some of the found footage is archival, while other scenes have been filmed by the artist. The work examines the relationship between the museum viewer perceiving the skull as an object, and the skull gazing at the viewer as a mortal. Is the gaze between them reciprocated? Is the visitor seen by the skull? The museum is the site of these encounters, it possesses powers that alienate and disorient the viewer from their own history.