Diana Heise

Book, HD Video, TRT 2.5 hours, 2012-2016

For the past 30 years, ABAIM has been building a method to learn to play ravann that is drawn from research on the traditional manners played throughout the island. In 2012 I began assisting with the writing and production of a book on this subject, the first book/DVD project on playing in the manner of Sega Tipik. This project also includes a series of film that engages the history of the instrument and its global significance and assists those wishing to learn to play.

The video footage here is excerpts from the shoot that occurred over the June and July of 2013. The project launched in July of 2016.

HD Video, TRT 25 minutes, archival pigment print, 20x30, endless takeaway, 2014

Engrained in national memory as a site for Maroons or runaway slaves, Le Morne stands as a heroic symbol of the struggle for freedom from slavery. Le Morne is a UNESCO World Heritage site inscribed due to the legend that escaped slaves once lived on this mountain. Through walks, videos, conversations and historical research on this site, Visions of Le Morne Inscribed is a ‘deep map’ of the contemporary cultural landscape, reflecting on the interaction between history, memory and place.

The first iteration of this work was exhibited at the Kemper at the Crossroads for The Center is a Moving Target exhibition, curated by Erin Dziedzic. Sections of the video piece were also screened by Krish Seetah, an archeologist with whom I collaborated, at UCLA, Stanford University and the London Society of Antiquities in 2013.

HD video, live performance, 15 minutes, 2012-2014

I have been inspired by strategies invented in post-colonial writers, particularly using existing stories to reflect upon contemporary concerns. I produced a play for video and live performance entitled Dir Mwa, Dir Nou, Kalibann (Tell me, Tell us, Caliban).  Written in English, French and Mauritian Kreol, Dir mwa, Dir nou, Kalibann weaves together the story of the slave Caliban from William Shakespeare (England), Aimé Césaire (Martinique) and Dev Virahsawmy's (Mauritius) versions of the Tempest, reminding us of the quest for a more humane and just society.

Performance premiered at the Institut Français de Maurice in July 2012.

Video work completed 2014