Butterflies, such as the painted lady, cross the Atlantic Ocean, covering at least 4,200 kilometers without interruption. An ocean crossing is also central to the 1932 film Daïnah la métisse, which Annabelle Agbo Godeau artistically engages with in her solo exhibition What have you done with her (Part one). The death depicted in the film finds its echo in the recurring motif of the butterfly within the exhibition, symbolizing the human soul since ancient times. Daïnah, a young dancer and person of color, portrayed by Laurence Clavius, captures the attention of white, decadent passengers aboard the luxury liner with her powerful and extravagant performances. One ship’s engineer, in particular, becomes obsessed with her after she rejects his intrusive advances. His infatuation turns into madness, and he kills her. Jean Grémillon’s film tells the story of a murder in ambiguous and eerily shifting scenes.

Agbo Godeau’s works capture the atmosphere of the film and address the erasure of non-white entertainers from history, a phenomenon that also affects the medium of film. The artist explores the theme of ambiguity, focusing on the concept of passing as she challenges the then-popular trope of the “tragic mulatta”: a woman of mixed ethnic background who is perceived as “white”, develops a conflicted sense of identity, and meets a tragic fate. This is also Daïnah’s fate as she disappears forever into the vastness of the ocean. Agbo Godeau conveys this shifting nature in a large-scale painterly narrative, which resembles a search for traces and communicates the powerlessness and tragedy of the protagonists. Through these stills, she reflects on current questions of identity, including her own. Agbo Godeau’s origami form as a trompe-l’œil reflects the theme of performed identity. The omnipresent motif of the ocean in Black history symbolizes the transatlantic slave trade, colonization, and death. The works explore what it means to be incompletely seen, depriving the viewers of the power to judge the subject based on their outward appearance. In the exhibition, Annabelle Agbo Godeau searches for a “missing history” by examining little-known films featuring women of ambiguous heritage. Although she consciously refrains from providing answers to the issues she explores, her paintings allow for reflection on one’s own place in the world, encouraging viewers to consider their perceptions and the stories that have shaped them. The crossing and overcoming of external characteristics seem to merge hopefully in the motif of the butterfly.