Black and Beats at the PHI Center | Claudette Colvin’s fight in augmented reality

Nine months before Rosa Parks, in March 1955, Claudette Colvin, aged just 15, refused to give up her seat to a white passenger on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama, resulting in her being arrested, then imprisoned. But unlike other victims of American segregation, the young girl pleaded not guilty and sued the City.

Even though Claudette Colvin never resisted arrest, she was accused of disturbing the peace, hitting the officers who arrested her, in addition, of course, to violating the law in force on racial segregation on buses – which forced blacks to give up their seat on request to a white passenger (even the seats in the back which were reserved for them).

And despite the absence of evidence (in particular in relation to the blows she allegedly gave to the police), she was found guilty of all three counts.

This story, told by the Frenchwoman Tania de Montaigne in a small book published in 2015, was first brilliantly adapted into a comic a few years ago – by Émilie Plateau –, then at the Théâtre du Rond-Point in Paris by Stéphane Foenkinos , who is at the origin of this augmented reality installation of approximately 40 minutes, co-produced with Pierre-Alain Giraud.

French creators, who launched Black at the Pompidou Center in Paris last spring, immerse us in this segregationist America thanks to augmented reality technology, which allows us to locate ourselves in space, while making the settings and characters of this story appear around us camped in Montgomery in 1955.

This is how during the first minutes, we are shown some examples of this segregation, whether at the grocery store – where blacks had to submit their list at the entrance – or in drinking establishments – where blacks were entry was prohibited – not forgetting the water fountains, where there was always a fountain reserved for white people and another for black people.

All this to tell you that the story of Claudette Colvin – narrated by Tania de Montaigne – is told to us at the same time as we are reminded of that of Rosa Parks, with the aim of answering the question that everyone is asking: why has Colvin’s story gone unnoticed, while that of Rosa Parks, who was 42 years old when she experienced the same humiliating episode, is written in the history books?

The creators of Black take the time to really explore this question. Among the most interesting elements of response, we note the fact that Claudette Colvin had darker skin than Rosa Parks (who was mixed) and was, therefore, more marginalized, but above all that Rosa Parks’ cause was carried by Martin Luther King, who launched a boycott campaign against the bus company.

Claudette Colvin, who became a mother at the age of 16, did not have the “unblemished” profile or background needed to be the standard bearer for the cause defended by civil rights activists of the time. . At least that’s what we read between the lines.

Stéphane Foenkinos and Pierre-Alain Giraud communicated with Claudette Colvin, who now lives in Texas – she is 84 years old.

“She did not want to confide in Tania about the writing of the book, the comic and theater adaptations, or for this installation, but she corroborated everything that was said,” Stéphane Foenkinos confirms to us. I think she deserves this place in the light. She rebuilt her life in New York, where she worked as a nurse and led union struggles. We also learned that Rosa Parks helped her a lot when she was younger. »

This is an experience that is both fascinating and necessary, during which the specter of Claudette Colvin touches us and inhabits us hours after having encountered her.

Black, the little-known life of Claudette Colvinis presented until April 26 at the PHI Center.

Beats

Change of tone, change of style. With Beatsthe English creator Darren Emerson takes us back to the raves from the early 1990s. Back when people gathered by the thousands in places kept secret until the last minute.

Named places Acid House by the police, who took great pleasure in unearthing them in order to make arrests.

We enter the playful world ofIn Pursuit of Repetitive Beats thanks to a virtual reality headset where our play space is well defined. Our quest will come to fruition by taking a seat in the car of three young people who are passing a joint and who are going to a rave.

Before entering the warehouse which will welcome these young people in a trance, who will dance all night under the influence of cannabis, MDMA or LSD, the visitor will learn more about the modus operandi death raves in England thanks to testimonies, including that of DJs and organizers, who express themselves by coming to life on the posters plastered on the walls of the streets we travel.

Special mention for this giant radio frequency band which appears on the ground and which moves according to our steps, stopping sometimes on interviews with various key players of those years, sometimes on house music, techno or dub, typical of these cathartic evenings.

We will even feel the cold and the wind when getting out of our companions’ car to join the group who are swaying to the bass spit out by huge speakers.

In short, another fascinating experience, and in this case extremely entertaining – lasting around 50 minutes – which requires a certain interaction from the visitor and which will remind them – or introduce them, depending on – of the world of ravesformerly clandestine.

In Pursuit of Repetitive Beats is on view until April 28 at the Phi Center.

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