In the Sagazan family, the father rules. His famous daughter, Zaho de Sagazan, is not the only notable personality in the clan living in Saint-Nazaire to have excelled thanks to her artistic practice. A taste for creation that the singer, who has recently found true love, surely inherited from her father, Olivier de Sagazan. In a portrait published by our colleagues at the site L’internaute, more details are revealed about the artistic practice of this mysterious man. The 65-year-old artist, born in Brazzaville, Congo, and from a family of the former French bourgeoisie, was originally a biologist before permanently transitioning to visual arts in the early 1990s. Olivier Le Moniès de Sagazan, as he is fully known, has made a name for himself in contemporary art through his performances where he transforms into a clay man.
In 2024, the artist presented the documentary “L’homme de boue,” showcasing his unique practice of transforming his body into clay in performances. In 1998, his piece “Transfiguration” brought him worldwide recognition: during 350 performances, held in 25 different countries, the artist methodically covers his body and face with wet soil to reveal himself, transitioning from human to animal, to unsettling hybrid creatures, as described by our colleagues. This unique approach has allowed the family man to collaborate with renowned artists.
Olivier de Sagazan has collaborated with Mylène Farmer and FKA Twigs
The artistic practice of Olivier de Sagazan has attracted many inquisitive minds in the music and film industry. In 2011, filmmaker Ron Fricke captured him for “Samsara.” In 2016, the British singer FKA Twigs, then in a relationship with Twilight actor Robert Pattinson, engaged this Loire-Atlantique resident for an immersive project. The following year, fashion creators Gareth Pugh and Nick Knight collaborated with the Frenchman for a fashion film.
His most prestigious collaboration remains with Mylène Farmer. In 2012, the close friend of Alain Chamfort worked with the visual artist for her video “A l’ombre,” where Olivier de Sagazan created “a disturbing visual universe, where his body transformation techniques interact with the dark and poetic world of the singer,” according to L’internaute.
The father of the interpreter of “La symphonie des éclairs,” who performed absurd acts in 2014 and 2017 to denounce the rise of the National Front in the polls, jokes with our colleagues about the creative effervescence in his family: “We talk about it all the time among ourselves. As soon as one invents something, we share it, we discuss it,” he says. He is currently on tour throughout France with his new creation, “Toujours jamais,” where he reflects on his artistic practice over the past 35 years.
Who is the dancer and choreographer Leïla Ka, the older sister of Zaho de Sagazan?
If Zaho needs no introduction, having been a standout at the 2024 Victoires de la musique, we can mention her cousin, Lorraine de Sagazan, or her older sister, who goes by the stage name Leïla Ka. The former has established herself as a director. The latter has made a name for herself in the world of contemporary dance. Trained at CentQuatre-Paris and La Garance, national stage of Cavaillon, the thirty-year-old gained recognition with her first solo, “Pode Ser,” in 2018. Awarded six times internationally, it has been performed over 200 times since its creation. Two years later, she created a second piece, the duo “C’est toi qu’on adore,” then, in 2022, the solo “Se faire la belle” was honored with the “Revelation choreographic” award from the Syndicat de la Critique. Also in 2022, she won the first prize at the Concours Danse Elargie at the Théâtre de la Ville de Paris with “Bouffées,” a piece for five performers.
As choreographer for Beyoncé, the César ceremony, her younger sister Zaho de Sagazan, and the National Ballet of Chile, she stands out with a style influenced by urban themes. On February 3, she will present her fourth piece, “Maldonne,” for which she won the Danse Elargie competition at the Théâtre de la Ville de Paris and was nominated for the International Dance Prize at Saddlers Wells in London, on the Olympia stage. “Already performed over 110 times, Maldonne imposes a writing of the intimate and the political, as radical as it is poetic,” specifies the venue’s website. There is no doubt that talent runs deep in the Sagazan family.
