Exhibition - “Origins. Cross Perspectives on Racism and Discriminations” at Palais de la Porte Dorée—Musée de l’Histoire de l’Immigration

Through the lens of contemporary art and guided by scientific data, the exhibition Origins questions one of the most powerful and persistent factors of discrimination in our society. ‘Origin’, whether real or imagined, is a cause of daily exclusion and stigmatisation. It is a reality that often goes unacknowledged, even though it shapes both collective and individual life paths from the earliest childhood.

Drawing on recent research in the social sciences, and in particular on the European UNDETERRED* project – UNintentional Discrimination dETEcted and Racism REvealed and Deactivated – the exhibition highlights the structural, and sometimes unconscious, nature of discrimination. It also examines its tangible effects on everyday life, particularly among young people. Access to education, employment, housing or healthcare: these are among the areas where this cycle produces enduring inequalities. Echoing the statistical data, works by contemporary artists bear witness to the emotional side of this discrimination: the exhaustion, the obstacles, but also the forms of resistance and solidarity that arise from them are all intimate, lasting and often invisible effects of such discrimination. Origins is a way of inviting everyone to question their own perceptions and to consider a society free from these mechanisms of discrimination in their daily lives.

Discrimination often stems from a simple glance. People of a foreign origin and/or those perceived as such bear the heavy burden of this discrimination. This ‘origin’ – whether real, presumed or imagined – is the source of persistent stereotypes, which often shape people’s life paths from childhood onwards.

Through the subversive gaze of contemporary artists – including Hamedine Kane – and previously unseen data, the exhibition Origins invites us to trace these mechanisms of stigmatisation and exclusion back to their source, by examining how perceptions are formed and perpetuated.

This exhibition, curated by Farah Clémentine Dramani-Issifou and Olivier Bedoin, is a way of inviting everyone to question their own perceptions and to consider a society free from these mechanisms of discrimination in their daily lives.