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Esther Calixte-Bea's Fyète-Souhou Tribe

Fyète-Souhou (formerly known as Fyète Souhou-te) is  a fictional tribe created by Esther Calixte-Bea inspired by her culture and personal life. Fyète meaning pride in haitian creole and Souhou meaning divine in guéré an ivorian dialect. Much like her last name being a combination of her haitian mother and ivorian father's last name, she combined haitian and guéré words to create the name of this tribe. Fyète-Souhou is divine pride or proud to be chosen by God. In this tribe, Calixte-Bea represents hairy black women, their everyday life, traditions and struggles while challenging eurocentric beauty standards. As a hairy women herself, the artist has discovered through her ivorian side of the family that her hairiness is hereditatry and that back in her great grandmother time body hair on women was seen as beautiful and not shameful. She decolonizes beauty through this tribe, discusses the topic of identity, lose of identity while reflecting on her upbringing in Canada. The artist uses painting, drawing, writing, fabric and more to create an immersive world. For Calixte-Bea, creating a fictional tribe is creating a space for healing and allowing the audience to discover an imaginary world they can escape in. 

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Welcome to the Garden is a solo exhibition by multidisciplinary artist Esther Calixte-Bea. Curated by Cecilia Bracmort, the exhibition delves into topics such as healing, freedom, restoration and community. The immersive exhibition consisting of paintings, drawings, garments, poetry & photography illustrates a fictional tribe of women called Fyète-Souhou. Within this tribe a group of women called the Kea-nin are tasked to travel outside of the island of Tè to gather information from the outside world. While some return from their trip, others stay and settle in strange lands. The offspring of these women called ‘The Lost’ are illustrated wearing white t-shirts and their quest for identity is unfolded across the exhibition. Searching to understand who they are after growing up in a land that wasn’t their own, the descendance go on a journey to return to the island and create a new hybrid identity.

Artworks of the Fyète-Souhou tribe

2020-2022

Af-Flux Biennale Transnationale Noire: Monde Bossale
September 11- December 11 2021

Creation of an Ethereal World | First Solo Exhibition
September 21 -October 28 2021

 "Creation of an Ethereal World" at La Centrale Powerhouse gallery, feminist artist-run center

Canada Council for Arts - Home Depot, over 100 visitors at vernissage and over 500 vistors overall 

Photos of the exhibition

Video of the exhibition

Articles & Mentions

https://viedesarts.com/en/reviews-en/creation-dun-monde-ethere-ou-comment-incarner-sa-divine-essence/
https://journalmetro.com/local/le-plateau-mont-royal/2712006/casser-les-codes-de-la-beaute-feminine-avec-esther-calixte-bea/
https://magazineinsitu.wordpress.com/2021/10/25/jusquau-28-octobre-2021-a-la-centrale-une-exposition-immersive-et-salutaire-proposee/
https://thelinknewspaper.ca/article/creation-of-an-ethereal-worlds-psychedelic-universe-of-paintings-urges-viewers-to-question-beauty-standards-and-colonial-oppression
https://theconcordian.com/2021/10/68255/
https://montreal.ctvnews.ca/you-are-shocked-but-you-shouldn-t-be-montreal-exhibition-celebrates-female-body-hair-fantasy-and-beauty-1.5599701
https://journalmetro.com/local/rosemont-la-petite-patrie/2706318/premiere-biennale-transnationale-noire-a-la-galerie-art-mur/

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