Nicolas Daubanes

A large part of Nicolas Daubanes’ work finds its roots in recent history. In events, uprisings or news items which all carry within them the signs of power dynamics, fights for social justice or rebellion. Rather than focusing on the emancipation process itself, the artist leads his research to the crux of the disobedience and takes an interest in the pivotal moments, the acting out, the strategies and actions that enable us to stand up to oppression. To this end, he studied the sabotage techniques used by resistance fighters imprisoned by the German during World War II. The Nancy prison mutiny, the trial of the Papin sisters and the Commune are some of these moments in which individuals fought to make their voices heard in times of social, military or cultural domination. Through sculpture, drawing, installation and memory work (such as reinstating a village market after it was cancelled during the war), Nicolas Daubanes has created a deeply political body of work that highlights commitments and acts of survival and liberation.