After a month-long itinerant residency in Toulouse, André Atangana presents Uprooting, a project that combines photography and video to explore the deracination of black masculinities. Written and shot in Toulouse, the film will screen in Bellegarde arts center’s black box, Le Cube, during the opening weekend, May 22-24.

The images plunge us into the interconnected stories of three geographically distant artists from the Black diaspora:
- Corey Scott Gilbert an American artist living in Berlin.
- Mathis Benestebe a French photographer living in Toulouse.
- Anicet Kitombo a Congolese dancer living in Kinsangani.

By staging and choreographing their bodies, André Atangana addresses the quest for identity, wandering, and the dichotomy between origins and belonging.

The Uprooting project shows deracination in its various forms:
- looking for oneself in diverse geographical and cultural environments,
- exchanging and comparing experiences of the Black diaspora, from an American, European and African angle,
- finding bonds, separations and connections in a fragmented world.

With sensitive images and performances in movement, André Atangana combines individual portraits and group stories while offering an introspective yet universal vision of uprooting.
A selection of large-format photographs from the project will be on public view in Rue Bellegarde. The aim of these photos is to make the intimate visible in the public space. André Atangana seeks to highlight the deep connection that exists between black men, whatever their origins, culture, identity or sexual orientation.

Produced by Le Nouveau Printemps.

With the participation of students at Université Toulouse Jean-Jaurès who signed up for the art workshop led by André Atangana, organized by CIAM-La Fabrique.
In collaboration with the nonprofits TouWin rugby club and Evidens.
With thanks to Jean-Romain Munvez for provision of shooting locations, and to the three models who took part in the shoot: Corey Scott Gilbert, Anicet Kitambo, and Mathis Benestebe.