Bazar2018
10:34 min
Video, color, sound
Danielle Dean’s exhibition “Bazar” takes the catalogues that the iconic French department store Bazar de l’Hôtel de Ville has produced between the late nineteenth century and today as a lens through which to view the entangled histories of consumerism, colonialism, and racism. Dean worked with four women affiliated with Permis de Vivre la Ville (License to Live in the City)—an association that aims to integrate underserved suburban youth into creative fields in Paris—most of them second-generation immigrants from French colonies. Dean and her collaborators scoured the catalogues’ pages, researching ways in which they perpetuated racist stereotypes and reinforced French power. The resulting work sees the women journey through the archive which weaves through Paris. The video embeds in the work the voices of the four participants who recount personal memories collected through interviews throughout the work process. They emphasize how critique and creativity offer ways to engage with over-determining power dynamics in subject construction, producing a struggle between possibilities for emancipation and recuperation by power structures.

Producer: Corinne Castel
Cinematographer: Thomas Lettelier 
Special effects: Romain Guillet, Arnaud Dexoteux 
Animation: Justin Weber
Performers: Ingrid Cesto, Elodie Diudat, Julie Douine, Emilie Ouedraogo (alias Lady Madskillz), Danielle Dean

Included in exhibition:
Bazar, ICA San DiegoBazar, 47 CanalBazar, Lafayette Anticipations



Video still, Bazar


Video still, Bazar


Video still, Bazar

Installation view, Bazar, 47 Canal

Installation view, Bazar, 47 Canal

Installation view, Bazar, ICA San Diego