Meet the Artist | Understanding the process behind Alexia DeFluff’s practice

Alexia DeFluff is an interdisciplinary artist studying humanity’s relationship with the environment. Interdisciplinary, DeFluff’s messages manifest through sound, installation and performance.

Supported by the French Institute in Paris, the artist presented her work Nuptualism at the 2023 edition of Playtopia. Her first time showing work in South Africa, Alexia DeFluff’s artwork will be one of thirteen artists that the public can engage with. Running from 8 – 9 December 2023, Playtopia Festival is Africa’s first Indie games and immersive arts festival and conference. Gathering artists, players as well as curious and invested publics, the festival enables them to share ideas, exhibit work, expand their practices and increase engagement across continents and disciplines.

Kinetic, Alexia DeFluff’s work requires active participation from the audience. “I’m not so much into looking passively at things,” she tells the French Institute of South Africa. “It’s also because when you have an interactive piece, people start to gather and talk to each other. I love the idea of creating a capsule of connection.”

Parallel to Alexia Defluff’s Nuptualism, the French Institute championed the African debut of Xabiso Vili and Inka Kendzia’s work Kwasukasukela – In the Beginning. Specially commissioned for the inaugural Forum Création Africa in Paris, Kwasukasukela is a projection mapping experience. Using traditional storytelling and music techniques, the 360° installation recreates a traditional healer’s hut. An opportunity to embark on an extraordinary odyssey, Kwasukasukela is an invitation to expand existing outlooks of life, past and present.

To learn more about the artists whose work showed at the Playtopia Festival, click here.