Olivier De Sagazan
Born in 1959 in Brazzaville, Congo, Olivier de Sagazan initially trained as a biologist before turning to painting and sculpture in 1987, a practice he has pursued continuously ever since.
Driven by a fascination with bringing matter to life, he began covering his own body with clay in order to observe the “object” that emerged from this transformation. This exploration led to the creation of his solo performance Transfiguration in 1998.
Performed more than 400 times over the past twenty years, Transfiguration gave rise to The Mass of the Donkey (La Messe de l’Âne), presented at the Venice Biennale in July 2021 and later at the World Puppet Theatre Festival in Charleville-Mézières.
Since then, de Sagazan has developed numerous other creations, including Hands Don’t Touch My Precious and Me, created in collaboration with Wim Vandekeybus in 2021, as well as Nos Cœurs en Terre (Our Hearts in Earth), developed with David Wahl and presented at the Avignon Festival in 2021, notably as part of Le Vif du Sujet.
His distinctive work as a performer has attracted collaborations with a wide range of internationally renowned artists and filmmakers, including FKA twigs, Mylène Farmer, Ron Fricke for the film Samsara, Qiu Yang for the film O, produced by Hou Hsiao-Hsien, and Gareth Pugh and Nick Knight for the opening of London Fashion Week.
PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE
