INSTALLATION

AUTHORISED PERSONNEL ONLY
YEAR2025

EXHIBITED AT
Peau Double, Espace Dukat

COLLABORATIONJaylin Bradbury

PHOTOSVictor Berthoud
Collectif Kimera
SPECIAL THANKS TO
Maude Renevier, Tanguy Troubat, Cyril Cottereau, Paola Costa, Collectif Kimera

The colour white is free; the “other” colour, yellow, not so much. Authorised Personnel Only uses the visual language and protocols of road signage to question how spaces are structured and controlled for humans based on race, nationality, and immigration status. It invites reflection on the subtle and overt ways movement and access are regulated; on whether one is an expatriate (“expat”) or an immigrant. Set in Geneva, where the convention on the unification of road signals was first signed in 1931, and where both immigrants and expats form a significant part of the population, the work asks: what does it even mean to be one or the other, when the intentions of both are often the same? What does it mean to inhabit a system in which every route is pre-mapped, every path designed to either facilitate or obstruct your journey, depending on your skin colour, your language, and your official designation?

    The work brings to the foreground the emotional weight carried by the “other” colour, navigating these coded systems. It highlights the subtle hostility, disorientation, and discomfort experienced when following the rules “correctly”, yet still encountering barriers. Ironically, the more adept one becomes at operating within these parameters, the greater the discouragement; success itself can be constraining when defined by externally imposed limitations.

    The project involves navigating a maze where players are assigned a colour before starting. To determine their colour, each player draws the top card from a stack placed next to the maze. The card will be either yellow or white, and the drawn colour becomes the player’s assigned path. The objective is then to complete the maze by navigating only through the areas that match the player’s designated colour.

BEHIND-THE-SCENES