It was not uncommon to see depictions of enslaved people on French tableware such as sugar bowls, soup tureens, plates, and coffee cups. Soup could be poured over black people in chains against a backdrop of sugar cane fields, and coffee could be served with a sugar bowl in honour of slavery, which provided access to a much-needed commodity. A crime against humanity was thereby normalised. As Yassine BenAbdallah discovered this racism education through tableware, in other words through everyday and family objects, he sought to show how the visible and the invisible are shaped.

Ombre Blanche is a replica of the Clermont vase, which is frequently used as a diplomatic gift as a symbol of French excellence, and it is paired with the Diane plate, which is part of the Élysée dining set. Inside this translucent porcelain, Yassine Ben Abdallah has had engraved the racist figures that adorned the crockery of the bourgeoisie. To see them, you would need break the vase. The artist invites us to grasp what Europe would like to conceal - its responsibility for centuries of slave trade and colonial slavery - is there, just beneath the surface. No need to look far, you just need to learn to look at what lies before your eyes.

‍_{In-residence project at la Manufacture de Sèvres
Text by Françoise Vergès
Photos by Souleymane Bachir Diaw}

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