ROBYN ORLIN AFRICA MOMENT: Babysitting series

“I’m always looking for new ways to desecrate the elitism that surrounds the art world,” explains Robyn Orlin to describe her project of small audiovisual pieces called the Babysitting Series. In these recordings, made in the halls of different museums around the world such as Alte Nationalgalerie in Berlin (2002), the Louvre Museum in Paris (2009) or Palais des Beaux-Arts in Lille, Robyn Orlin works with the guards of each one of them recording them in different situations. For her, they are private nannies who take care of paintings and sculptures. The fact is that museums, in addition to being places of exhibition, discovery, conservation and history, are the daily work spaces of the guards who welcome the public and the safety of the people and the works on display. The South African choreographer Robyn Orlin invites us to rediscover the museum through her Babysitting Series production.

Babysitting Series in Mercat de les Flors

Louvre Museum, París (2009) with Olivier, Frédéric, Fatima, Alain, Raphaëlle and Henri.

Agustins Museum, Toulouse (2012), with Jeanette, Leslie, Hervé, Claire, Catherine and Nadia.

Palais des Beaux Arts, Lille (2012), with Boniface, Benoît, Alioune, Alain and Nathalie.

Robyn Orlin is known for the constant irritation caused by her pieces. Received the most important award conferred by France for merit in Arts. For 30 years, she has transformed the boundaries between performing arts and dance.