Les Yeux d'Orphée Série-Collection : Algérie(s) intime(s)

Marjolaine Bonnet
2004 - 13 min - Digital vidéo - Couleur - France

Who is the character of Orpheus?
Orpheus, the musician god of the antique Roman mythology went to hell to find his beloved Eurydice. With the help of his bewitching song, he obtains from the lord of the Hells and his queen the liberation of Eurydice, but only with a condition: he mustn't turn back to look at her until he's arrived in the kingdom of livings with her. Orpheus fails and as soon as he turned back lost his wife forever in the kingdom of shadows.
Why this title?
See again his own people is impossible: despite himself the eyes of Orpheus efface and condemn the other world. This title attests of my questioning about Kamel Yahiaoui's painting. Does he paint the "shadows" of familiar persons he has lost in his life by making them appear and giving them an unsettling presence?