An extraordinary photography exhibition currently on display at Una Volta in Bastia tells the deeply personal story of Jean-Michel André, a photographer who has transformed a childhood tragedy into a powerful work of art. The exhibition, titled "Room 207" - referencing the children's room where André slept during a horrific mass shooting - runs until December 20 and represents more than four decades of coming to terms with an unspeakable past.
The tragedy that shaped André's life occurred on August 5, 1983, at the Sofitel hotel in Avignon, France. Seven people were brutally gunned down that night: Lucien André, the French Consul General in Saarbrücken, his companion, three hotel employees, and a young couple who had arrived late in the evening. Seven-year-old Jean-Michel André, the diplomat's son, was sleeping in the adjacent room when the massacre took place. The psychological shock was so severe that the young boy lost all memory of that terrible night.
A judicial investigation was opened following the murders, but the case was never fully solved. Two suspects were charged, but numerous shadows and gaps remained in the evidence, with scattered archives providing only partial answers. The amnesiatic child was collected by adults the following morning and returned to a life where nothing could be named or discussed. The traumatic silence surrounding the event would persist for decades.
André's photographic work doesn't attempt to reconstruct the events or provide explanations for what happened that night. Instead, his exhibition traces the fragmented threads of shattered memory, working with what remains: judicial archives, AFP news dispatches, landscapes crossed too late in life, and intimate fragments of recollection. It represents a way of reclaiming control over a situation where everything had collapsed around him without his agency.
The catalyst for this artistic exploration came much later in André's life with the birth of his daughter. This pivotal moment forced him to confront the possibility of explaining his past to the next generation, sparking a journey of artistic investigation and personal healing. The exhibition serves as living proof of resilience, demonstrating how art can emerge from trauma that was previously impossible to articulate.
Visitors to the Una Volta gallery have been taking time to engage with André personally, discussing both his individual narrative and the powerful images on display. The photographer stands before his prints, many of which were created in the Cap Corse region, offering insights into his process of transforming silence into visual testimony. His work represents a unique intersection of documentary photography, personal archaeology, and therapeutic art-making.
The exhibition "Room 207" stands as a testament to the power of artistic expression in processing collective and individual trauma. Through his careful curation of archival materials, landscape photography, and personal artifacts, André has created a space where the unspeakable can finally find voice through visual narrative, offering both personal catharsis and universal reflection on memory, loss, and survival.
