Clement Siatous

Born 1947, Chagos Islands
Lives and works between Mauritius and UK

Clement Siatous was born on the Chagos Islands, a small isolated archipelago in the Indian Ocean. He spent most of his childhood on the island of Diego Garcia until the entire population were forcibly evicted by the British Government to make way for a US naval base in 1973.

The UK Government was responsible for creating a fiction that a permanent population never existed. This claim was made easier to uphold due to sparse photographic documentation that until recently mainly existed in dispersed military and government archives. In direct response to the continued political denial and displacement, Siatous renders a counterpoint to this official record. llustrating a comprehensive chronicle of life on the islands, each painting becomes a political act confronting the governments that evicted him. Through his own personal journey of recollection, Siatous issues a defiant rebellion.

Né en l’an 1947, dan ban Zil Chagos
Travay ek rest entre l’ île Moris ek L’Angléter

Clément Siastous ine né dan ban Zil Chagos, ene ti arsipel isolé ki truv dan l’Océan Indien. Line passe presk tou so l’enfance lor l’île Diégo Garcia, ziska ki Gouvernma Anglé ine vine tir tou ban zabitan depi lor ban Zil Chagos pou fer place pou ban baze naval Amérikin en l’an 1973.

Gouvernma Anglé ine invente ene ban zistwar, ki zamai pa ti éna oken dimoun ki ti rest lor sa ban zils la. Sa ban zistwars la ti facile pou raconté akoz pa ti éna bokou foto ek dokiments pou prouv lé contrair. Mé résament ine retruv in pé dokiments ek foto dan ban arsiv gouvernma ek militèr. Pou conbate sa ban perpétiels menzonzes politik ek sa ban déportations la, Siastous ek so ban tablo, pé ine vine azoute enkor prev avek sa ban dokiments ek foto ki fine rétruvé dan ban arsiv la. So ban tablo montré en détaye kouma la vie ti été dan sa ban zils la, é sak la pintir in vine ene ack politik ki dénonce gouvernma ki fine tir li lor so zil. A traver so propre lexpèriens ek so ban tablo, Siatous pé contribié a la lit ban Chagossiens.

Contact / Kontak

Atélié
E: clementsiatous1@gmail.com

Informasyon
Paula Naughton
E: naughton.paula@gmail.com