Disappearing of a Nation [on the ruins of the Plantationocene] is a fictional ethnographic exhibition about marrooning in La Réunion and the ways to exhibit it in the West. The Marroons were enslaved who escaped into the forest, blending with the woods until becoming a part of it. Next to nothing has been materially found about Marroons, only tales and mysticism remains in Créole culture. The forest has become the sole evidence of the Marroon civilization.

Mimicking the ethnographic exhibition, the project questions the relevance of “showing” what is supposed to remain hidden from the white gaze. After purchasing a ticket, the visitor is welcomed to a space where white podium stands covered by moss and dead leaves on the ground are the only testaments of marrooning. Walking around this exhibition the visitor is unable to see anything displayed. One ends up only hearing themselves walking on the dead leaves.

What are you looking for here?

_{↓ Photos by Jeroen Van De Gruiter}