Indigenous contemporary art.

Following his collaboration with Daria de Beauvais for the project "Reclaiming the Land" at the Palais de Tokyo, this discussion is an opportunity for Léuli Eshrāghi to share his artistic, curatorial and critical commitment. He proposes a reflection on the definition of autochthony, as well as its current presence in the French and international art scene.

Léuli Eshrāghi lives and works between Meanjin/Brisbane (Australia) and Tiohtià:ke/Montreal (Canada). Of Chinese, Samoan and Persian descent, he works on the edge of academic research, curating and artistic practice. His research focuses on embodied knowledge, ceremonial and political practices, linguistic renewal and indigenous futurisms in the Great Ocean (Pacific Ocean basin) and beyond. His projects include residencies, exhibitions, publications, teaching and advocacy. He is a scientific advisor to the exhibition 'Reclaiming the Land' at the Palais de Tokyo (2022), curator of the 9th TarraWarra Australian Art Biennale (2023) and Resident Researcher/Curator at the University of Queensland Art Museum (Australia). Léuli Eshrāghi is in residence at the Cité internationale des arts in Paris from April to June 2022.

Daria de Beauvais is curator at the Palais de Tokyo. In 2022, she is organising the project "Reclaiming the Earth" (group exhibition, publication, speech programming). Wishing to think about the world beyond the Western nature/culture division, this project follows in the footsteps of artists - particularly indigenous artists - who work differently with natural elements: both medium and tool, they are cultural, historical and political vectors revitalized in a context of ecological emergency. In 2021, she is organising the first exhibition in Europe of Wiradjuri and Kamilaroi artist Jonathan Jones, in collaboration with Artspace (Sydney). She recently co-curated the group exhibition "Anticorps" (2020) and the 15th Lyon Biennale (2019). She has organised numerous solo exhibitions, accompanying artists such as Mimosa Echard, Angelica Mesiti, Laure Prouvost, Camille Henrot, Mel O'Callaghan or Mika Rottenberg.

Penser le Présent is supported by Société Générale.

Free admission subject to availability

Photo credits: 
Daria de Beauvais © François Bouchon
Léuli Eshrāghi © Rhett Hammerton