Florian Dach and Dimitri Zephir—known as the collective dach&zephir—work at the intersection of art and design. Their work is a dialogue between France and its département et région d'outre-mer in the Caribbean (departments of the French Republic which are outside the continental Europe situated portion of France; former colonies which have not gained independence), engaging with the historical context of colonialism and post-colonialism, the Diaspora and contemporary society through a process involving archiving, materiality, and storytelling.

Their practice encompasses functional design and art objects and installation that connects the past to the present and considers the future. Their research unearths stories, and actively shares knowledge interpreted through an artistic lens. The reclamation of French Caribbean narratives and forgotten histories, specifically focused on Martinique and Zephir’s home country of Guadeloupe—where both artists spend extended stretches of time— is central to their practice. It takes shape through the inclusion of objects with cultural and historical significance, archival and contemporary imagery, natural materials and woods, and local seeds.  

“Our focus point is the Caribbean, its culture and craftmanship,” they note.  “Often times craft traditions are left out of historical archives, making it hard to trace their origin and keep the artform alive.”

The duo’s works, installations and design projects are dedicated to this resurfacing and are based on extensive research. They reclaim through storytelling and experiment with materiality to explore meanings and juxtapositions. Beads and seeds play an important role, as the wearing of jewelry made of precious metals was outlawed for the slave population until the abolition in 1848. Back then, people made seed necklaces using local seeds such as Shiva tears, bulls eye seeds, wawa seeds, savonette and Caesalpinia seeds; we re-encounter these materials in their works. These beads and seeds are connected to wood structures and placed amongst fabrics and archival or contemporary imagery to thread together complex narratives that remove the colonial gaze. The works present a natural environment that serves as a continuation of the Caribbean and retains connection to African heritage in the Caribbean, and syncretized or Creolized components of Caribbean culture.

Dach&zephir present nuanced works that honor the stories of the people and serve as a new addition to an archive for the region and the art historical canon. Whether they design a contemporary bench that references the tiban, or create an art installation of reinterpreted Martiniquan dog knives, the works pay homage to Caribbean cultural heritage, and the people’s remarkable capacity for resistance and perseverance. 

“We care about people’s personal stories, their cultural expressions, creativity and entrepreneurial mindset. They are very inventive and that’s definitely a part of the spirit in the Caribbean. There's always so much creativity and ideas of how to make things work,” they said.