Floris Schönfeld

Discours de Fou / Oratwa pou Mambo Erzulie Dantor is a project that revolves around vodou lwa or spirit Erzulie Dantor. The artist encountered this spirit in Port-au-Prince in 2011 and since then she has been a part of his life as a force of both comfort and confusion. The project is the artist’s attempt to honour her and question his own understanding of what it is to believe in something.

The project spans almost a decade and started with participation in the 2nd International Ghetto Bienale in Port-au-Prince Haiti in 2011. The latest rendition of the project was a the exhibition Grenouille du Sang at A Tale of A Tub in Rotterdam in the summer of 2020.

mixed media & 16mm film installation, 2020, A Tale of A Tub, Rotterdam

Oratwa pou Mambo Erzulie Dantor is a functional altar for Haitian vodou lwa or spirit Erzulie Dantor. The artist encountered this spirit in Port-au-Prince in 2011 and since then she has been a part of his life as a force of both comfort and confusion. The work is the artist’s attempt to honour her.

Central to the installation is a projection of 16mm film material shot by the artist in Port-au-Prince during a specially commissioned ritual that was performed for the spirit Erzulie Dantor. The material consists of a series of portraits of members of the congregation (or vodouisants) who are in a state of possession by spirits who have been invited to attend the ritual. The guest of honour Mambo Erzulie Dantor, can be seen possessing two different vodouisants at different stages of the ritual carrying her customary knife and wearing the red/blue scarf of the Haitian flag. 

The film is projected onto a gold leaf surface that has been applied to the wall of the gallery. Next to this hangs a replica of the icon painting The Black Madonna of Częstochowa which on Haiti is associated with the spirit Erzulie Dantor. Like the projection, the icon was originally painted on a gold leaf surface emphasising its holiness.  

The altar was consecrated by Vodou priestess Mambo Maria during the opening of the exhibition. She asked Vodou spirit Legba Petro to "open the door” so that Maman Erzulie Dantor can come down and grace us with her presence. This door will remain open for the duration of the exhibition and acts as a channel of communication with Erzulie Dantor. On the floor there is a small platform on which stand a number of attributes that were used in the consecration of the altar which enable its functionality.

digital video, 28 min, 2012 

The project Discours de Fou took place during the 2nd annual Ghetto Biennale, Port-Au-Prince, Haiti. For the project artist Floris Schönfeld attempted to hold a series of conversations with the Vodou spirits, or Lwa as they are known in Haiti. The topic of these conversations was faith and the act of believing itself. These conversations and their repercussions are documented in the 28 minute single channel video piece with the same title.

digital video, 28 min, 2012 

digital video, 28 min, 2012 

digital video, 28 min, 2012 

digital video, 28 min, 2012 

The altar was consecrated by Vodou priestess Mambo Maria during the opening of the exhibition. She asked Vodou spirit Legba Petro to "open the door” so that Maman Erzulie Dantor can come down and grace us with her presence. This door will remain open for the duration of the exhibition and acts as a channel of communication with Erzulie Dantor. On the floor there is a small platform on which stand a number of attributes that were used in the consecration of the altar which enable its functionality.