Mémoires des corps [embodied memories]

In Mémoires des corps, Messouma Manlanbien draws from her Guadeloupean, Ivorian and French heritage to create a multilayered installation that becomes both altar and archive. Using textiles, drawing, sculpture, video-performance and installation, she weaves fabric, shells, metals and everyday objects into symbolic environs of repair and reverence. One of the key works features room-sized curtains of carnelian, pink opal, moonstone and amber—traditionally healing stones—paired with new tapestries depicting female bodies, bees, and reproductive organs. The exhibition reflects on the traumas experienced by women from former French colonies and how these echo across generations. Messouma Manlanbien imagines the gallery as a body in recovery, offering space for remembering, healing and affirmation.