One Last Cry exhibition by artist Akeem Smith at Lafayette Anticipations - our photos

In the luminous halls of Lafayette Anticipations, Jamaican-born sculptor and video artist Akeem Smith unveils his new exhibition, One Last Cry, from October 18 to November 20, 2023. The fruit of an artistic residency at the foundation, this artistic project plunges us into the heart of Jamaican dancehall culture from the 1980s to 2000. A popular movement largely omitted from institutional archives, but one that Smith has immortalized over the years through his growing collection of amateur photographs and videos.

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At the center of theexhibition is"Dovecote", a singular video framed by decorative welded metal doors. These gates, used in Jamaica both as protection against domestic crime and as a symbol of wealth, enclose a video work. The camera focuses on women with enigmatic expressions, paying homage to Spanish Town's Dovecote Memorial Park. Smith plays with the ambiguity of emotions, while evoking memories through an audio collage taken from a funeral, unearthed from his archives. Rebecca Lamarche-Vadel, the exhibition's curator, highlights the way Smith questions identity within dancehall culture, while choosing to depict women whose attitudes remain elusive.

Lafayette Anticipations also features new sculptures created by Smith during his residency. These urns, imbued with nostalgia, each celebrate a key moment in dancehall evenings, capturing the effervescence of a bygone era. As the artist points out, juxtaposing these historical artifacts with other contemporary objects transforms the archive into a"living exploration of a community rooted in celebration".

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