Arcréologie préventive, hommage à Wilhiam Zitte, (Preventive Arcréologie, homage to Wilhiam Zitte) a film by Philippe GAUBERT,

Screening 16th December 2020 to 28th March 2021, former slave hospital, Villèle museum.

A documentary film by Philippe Gaubert, produced at the Villèle museum during the ‘Heritage and creation’ residency between May 2020 and December 2020.

Philippe Gaubert was born in Marseille. After training as a photographer in Reunion 25 years ago, he applied his photographic skills to producing creative documentaries, essentially in Reunion and Madagascar, where he worked on a large number of projects. In 2016, he decided to returned to his origins and settled in Corsica, where his family came from. He held a number of exhibitions, in Madagascar, Reunion, France, Italy, Mali, Norway and Paris. While working as a photographer, he also wrote and produced creative documentary films.

From the very start of his career, Wilhiam Zitte played and essential role in Philippe Gaubert’s career. When Philippe first arrived in Reunion, Wilhiam accompanied him in his discovery of the island, its artists and culture and he was the first person Philippe showed his photographs to on completing his early photographic documentaries of la Rivière des Galets (Reunion) and Madagascar. The constructive criticism given by Wilhiam and his very specific way of talking about the history of art and of Reunion in general contributed to the development of his technique. They became firm friends.

Arcréologie préventive, Hommage à Wilhiam Zitte (Preventive Arcréologie, homage to Wilhiam Zitte)

“On Friday, 22 June 2018, we were all shocked to hear that Wilhiam Zitte had died. 15 months have passed and it is clear that the mark he left on the island’s cultural scene is still very much present. Today, it is important to document his works and keep them alive.

As part of the topic of Heritage and Creation, the project of this residency is an invitation to continue working on the memory of Wilhiam Zitte, keeping alive his creations at the Villèle museum, where he set up exhibitions that left a mark on their period: Tét Kaf, Fét Kaf (African head, African festival), a rightful vindication by a descendent of people who suffered when working on this historic site.

The residency will be an opportunity to bring together artistic, sound and visual elements produced by artists who knew, photograph, filmed and interviewed him. Organising these elements for an exhibition solemnly marking his presence in the island’s heritage will certainly be the best way to give homage to this talented artist who was also a friend, as well as being a very appropriate process, since our project is a natural continuation of his own work of collecting and promoting important artists working in the zone.

My visual and sound archives and those of my fellow photographers and artists from the zone will be the first source of an important iconography which will be the basis of producing a faithful portrait of the artist, enriched by accounts of various types, produced by people who knew him and drew inspiration from him. In addition to the work of memory based on this existing material, the residency proposes to initiate research aimed at tracing the development of the artist’s work and to set up a multimedia exhibition, as well as producing a film entitled ‘Arcréologie preventive, homage à to WZ’, tracing the sources of his work and his artistic process.” [Philippe Gaubert]