Teach Yourself to Fly (2024)
Workshops, anthropology, performance, sound, photography
35mm negative (digital scans)
As part of the Création en Cours residency — Ateliers Médicis
École élémentaire José Barau, Sainte-Suzanne, La Réunion

Teach Yourself to Fly is a project rooted in the rich ecosystem and multiculturalism of La Réunion, informed by the biophilia hypothesis: the innate human instinct to connect with nature. Through expeditions across the island and exchanges with local communities—from urban settings to remote wilderness—I engaged with agents of sustainable development and learned about local folklore, daily life, and culinary traditions. I recorded soundscapes of birdsong, tropical storms, and omnipresent bodies of water, alongside analog photographs and written observations.

A central component of the project involved workshops with 10-year-old students, drawing on Pauline Oliveros’ Sonic Meditations (1971), which cultivate self-awareness and emotional health through listening and collective music-making, as well as sensorial movement improvisations from my studies at Beaux-Arts de Paris and the Centre National de la Danse. These experiments led to the composition of sound ecosystems, blending loops of our voices with ambient recordings from the children’s immediate environment.

Supported by educational site visits, these practices fostered a deeper awareness of local biodiversity. The residency affirmed art as a powerful tool for ecological engagement and strengthened my role as an advocate for these urgent issues.