Degrés Est : Charly Bechaimont

Charly Bechaimont (1991, Saint-Dié-des-Vosges) is an artist who belongs to the marginalized Traveller community (which includes Roma, Travellers, Sinti, Manouches, Gitans, Yeniches). He invites us to look at society’s violence by making use of waste—some of it toxic—in his works. Having surrounded him from his childhood onwards, these elements have much to talk about his singular trajectory. Wandering around disregarded cityscapes is an integral part of his creative process. In doing so, he scavenges material for his work but also perpetuates one of his community’s guiding acts: ‘inhabiting dead places’—as the ‘reception areas’ designated for Traveller communities in France are often located near heavily polluted areas, containing heavy metals or dangerous chemicals. The artist probes our prejudices about dirt and highlights the exposure of certain minorities to environmental injustice. By invoking the car, violence, and dirt, Charly Bechaimont plays with stereotypes about Travellers to turn them inside out and neutralize them.