Rudy Kanyhe & Lauren La Rose: each body wakes up on a wave: First Floor Gallery

Rudy Kanhye and Lauren La Rose with Ines Gradot, Sabe Lewellyn, Aurelie Chan Hon Sen, Natasha Soobramanien and Luke Williams

Curated by Rudy Kanhye and Lauren La Rose

Part of Glasgow International

For Glasgow International Festival of Contemporary Art, Glasgow Print Studio is delighted to present each body wakes up on a wave, bringing together artists using diverse print and printmaking techniques to address themes of empire, migration and transcultural solidarity.

Through touch, heat, taste and play, the artists explore entanglements and tensions that characterise creole pluricultural landscapes while underscoring Mauritian diaspora as a case study for transculturalism and alterity.

Curated by Rudy Kanhye and Lauren La Rose, the exhibition intertwines new artwork, archival visuals, innovative textile installations, and photographs sourced from archives and libraries in Mauritius and the UK.

The exhibition delves into the collective memories of individuals who embody migrant communities, shedding light on diverse geopolitical narratives, systems of labour and untold new economies built by underrepresented women and their resonance within the broader experiences of diasporic individuals. each body wakes up on a wave serves as a testament to the immense power of art to challenge and enhance our understanding of contemporary life, "Art liberates what the archives obliterate" (Mauritian and French poet, Khal Torabully).

This project has been assisted by Creative Scotland, CHARTS, Aapravasi Ghat Trust, National Library of Mauritius, the Mahatma Gandhi Institute, the Intercontinental Slavery Museum, Pamplemouse Botanic Garden, Blue Penny Museum, Unlimited and Disability Arts Online.

More information here.

Click here for a full a walk-through of the show by artist, Lauren La Rose.

Like spume, each body
wakes up on a wave.

One straw, two straws
four score sepoys
and for entrails
a coulis of blue men
paw through
stone-clotted fields.
We are molasses, we are bagasse
my African brother descended from slaves
our skin is the trace
like yours, of the same dark race.
One straw, two straws
fourscore sepoys
for full-face deduction
devalued by French tarot
man tied to the tides
by the spar made of coconut wood
a flaw falters
a seedless man 
destitute die-rolling race
hanged from pandanus trees,
in the name of the stunning sea

Khal Torabully 

Translator’s note: 'sepoy' is an Indian soldier who served under colonial rule.