Latifa Laâbissi’s “Self Portrait Camouflage” Sunday Session at The MoMA PS1

In her stark and highly personal full-length solo performance, the choreographer, Latifa Laâbissi—who was raised in France by Moroccan-born parents—uses tropes of caricature and the grotesque to conjure the silent aggressions and tensions at the heart of some immigrant experiences. Performing the piece naked, in bright spotlight against a sterile white backdrop; fully exposed to the world, Laâbissi becomes an object to be gazed at, studied, and scientifically dissected—evoking the imperialist custom of exhibiting indigenous people at World’s Fairs. Against the backdrop of recent anti-immigrant populism in the U.S. as well as the rest of the Western world, Laâbissi’s themes of 19th century representational politics and marginalization acquire new relevance.

A conversation with the artist follows the performance.