What Colors Are We Made Of?
Indigo plants, red earth, fragments of rusted iron, flowers, bark, pieces of charcoal… From these natural materials found on her island, Shakti Callikan explores, gathers, and transforms.
Using these materials, she creates colors in the form of of pigments and inks. Those colours become the foundation of an intimate dialogue and questioning with her island.
A descendant of the mixed familial heritage of French colonists, enslaved people, and Indian indentured laborers, Shakti Callikan weaves an intimate and layered narrative that confronts the complexities of inheritance, identity, and belonging. Her work seeks not only to remember but also to heal the memories passed down through generations.
Emouvances offers a vibrant portrait of a nation in the process of becoming.
All the natural materials with which I create color have played an essential role in the island's history. Pickaxes or iron shackles, charcoal for cooking, building timber, medicinal plants, or soil for cultivation; in different forms, each of these materials has contributed to the daily lives of the inhabitants for four hundred years.
This led me to carry out more in-depth historical research on their use throughout our history. I discovered facts I was unaware of and anecdotes that struck me. Short chronicles that, stitched together, weave the tapestry of our past.
When I sketch this story, it is I, Shakti, born of a metisse family, who is doing it.
Marion, a freed slave, and her parents Pierre and Marguerite, who were enslaved; Husraz Mundbodh, indentured laborer no. 306821 Laurent Masson coloniser, Nowringeea Ramroop indentured labourer n°313931, Jean-Baptiste de Robillard coloniser, and Callikan n°274458 are my ancestors.
The first people of my family to arrive on the island and their many descendants are writing this story with me.
They give me more than a point of view, it is a point of "vie".
