You can't eat identity

The political history and state of the island Mayotte is the centre of attention in APT artists SUPERFLEX’s solo exhibition "You can’t eat identity" at Gallery Nils Stærk.

Thematically migration is the main subject of the exhibition. The boat and the horizon also play a part as images of wanderlust and dreams of another life. The exhibition places itself in SUPERFLEX’s general practice where the aesthetic product is based upon a very specific socio-economic situation, which at the same time asks some universal questions about dreaming of something else.

In the film installation European Union Mayotte SUPERFLEX reflects upon migration, the dream of another life and the frontex border of the EU. Located in the Indian Ocean north of Madagascar, Mayotte is one of the four Comoros Islands, a previous French Colony. The Union of the Comoros is a sovereign island nation gaining independence in 1975. Mayotte, however, has chosen to reaffirm its ties to France through a series of referendums. In 2011, Mayotte became a French overseas department, which equalled the island with France’s other departments and regions. In 2014 the EU acknowledged Mayotte as a part of the union, making it EU’s outermost region.

In one of two projections we follow the production of a small fiberglass fishing boat on Anjouan, an island situated only 70 kilometres away from Mayotte. In these small boats people from Anjouan, and the surrounding islands of the Comoros, take the risk of a dangerous and illegal journey, in the hope of reaching Mayotte, and thereby the EU - causing death by drowning for thousands of people.

The exhibition also consists of seven new paintings, all with the same title: You can’t eat identity, each in a different colour representing the colour of the current 7 Euro notes (500, 200, 100, 50, 20, 10 and 5).

* SUPERFLEX made the recordings to the film installation in September 2015. SUPERFLEX went for the first time to Mayotte in 2014, when the French State had commissioned them to produce an artwork for three local hospitals on the two islands. It will be inaugurated autumn 2016.

In the main gallery the video installation European Union Mayotte is shown. The film was shot on the island Anjouan, part of the island country of Comoros, located in the Indian Ocean north of Madagascar. Only 70 kilometres away is the other island Mayotte. Contrary to Anjouan and the rest of the Comoros Mayotte chose to stay affiliated with France when the Comoros became an independent country in 1975. In 2011, Mayotte became a so-called French overseas department, which equalled the island with France’s other departments and regions. In 2014 the EU acknowledged Mayotte as a part of the union making it EU’s outermost region. Therefore there is a dangerous illegal trafficing of people looking to get to Mayotte and thereby France and the EU for various reasons. Many thousands have not survived the few kilometres of travel.

In the film we follow the production of a small fiberglass boat meant for fishing. The boats produced on Anjouan are though often used to sail to Mayotte, a journey which can be dangerous both because of weather conditions and the patrolling coast guard around Mayotte.