Artists in residence

Maleïka Pennont was born in the 90s, in Fort-de-France, Martinique. She grew up between theaters and books by Aimé Césaire, the stories of her city and the soundsystems that forged her personality. At the age of 16, she took her first singing lessons at SERMAC, the town’s cultural center, which trains many Martinican artists in all fields.

In 2010, she formed her first amateur music group at university in mainland France. It was alongside American singer Markus Mann that she gained experience, on stage, during numerous European tours. She joined the Tourcoing Conservatory of Music, and her first project was born: Maleïka Project. She explores the intersections of jazz and Caribbean music with six other young musicians. In November 2014, they signed the Mizik Mawon EP.

In 2015, the artist wins de All For One Caribbean at the Scène nationale de Tropiques Atrium. She subsequently joined Tropiques Atrium’s creative residency and co-founded The Ting Bang, an electro-bèlè trio with Dj Noss and tanbouyé Johan Lebon. They combine futurism and ancestrality in an avant-garde musical genre.

Maleïka continues his solo journey, always seeking a balance between heritage and modernity. Her Vibe Sessions have become unmissable fixtures on the networks. She works on her lyrics and performances and improvises alongside other musical artists.
She produces her singles independently. Give Thanks, which got a lot of attention, followed by the bewitching PnP, a Caribbean soul-hip-hop track, and the allegorical Woulé Mango, which received radio airplay. She recounts her faith, her difficulties, but also all her blessings – a path of meditation, healing and fire for her rebirth.

Maleïka breathes new life into the music of the Black Atlantic, blending influences from the shores of four continents. Her universe, which could make J.Dilla mix Erykah Badu with Eugène Mona, distills introspective, committed Caribbean poetry.
Today, the singer delivers an elaborate, sensual and magnetic soul, positioning herself as the spokesperson for this new Creole musical identity.

Jonathan Pêpe, born in Toulouse in 1987, was trained at the National School of Art in Bourges then at Fresnoy, National Studio of Contemporary Arts.

In 2022, he taught digital arts at ENSAD in Valenciennes. His works, in perpetual mutation, can take the form of drawings, films, installations that can be interactive, evolving or robotic. Jonathan Pêpe produces fictions by diverting contemporary techniques such as “soft-robotics”, through works such as Exo-biote (2015) or Haruspices (2019), which feature moving silicone sculptures fainting to breathe. Often produced in collaboration with research laboratories (INRIA, CNRS), Jonathan Pêpe’s works question from different angles the cursors where we, humans, place the border between the living and the non-living.

Jonathan is a polyvalent artist who works with drawings, films, installations and digital media. Jonathan’s practice investigates human’s shifting perception of the border between living and non-living creatures. Jonathan has a keen interest in developing interactive art experiences and using contemporary techniques, such as soft-robotics. His artistic projects are frequently developed in cooperation with research laboratories.