Ariane is an award-winning, British-Mauritian performer, educator and film-maker. Her practice centers around holistic wellbeing, cultural reclamation and transformation from a post-feminist, black, female of center lense. Her visual archives document the experiences of British women with islander heritage from across the African and Caribbean diaspora in relation to Mauritian culture. Her work with WOC & LGBTQ+ communities creates somatic and historical awareness through powerful ritual movement, poetry and music. Her dialogical style encourages critical thinking and systems change through diasporic unity and re-connection to self. She has been in Olivier Award winning shows, worked with renowned international artists, released music and been featured on the BBC, Channel 4 and in several international publications. 

I have always been interested in videography and since becoming a Screen Ambassador my interest in archiving has increased due to knowledge gained on the program and an understanding that I need to be taking some responsibility and consciously archiving and preserving for the edification and education of future generations in general and particularly for the Afro Caribbean community. I am a screenwriter currently in the postproduction of my directorial debut short film mockumentary titled "Manna in the manor." I am also writing and developing the next instalment which I hope to shoot later this year. I have also written and developed a period piece short film about Haile Selassie which is part of a potential anthology of three period stand alone short films and I am looking for a producer to help get this poignant, far fetched project off the ground. Other passions include writing poetry and getting pieces published.

I’m a budding digital archivist and have explored this through founding Akín Akin Archive - a project that preserves and celebrates the histories of the global West African diaspora. Beginning with West African communities in Britain, the archive explores stories country by country, uncovering overlooked narratives through interviews, photography, and film to preserve heritage for generations to come. It all began when I started exploring my family’s VHS home videos and sharing snippets online. I started the archive because I felt that West African presence in the UK is heavily undocumented, despite historical records showing West Africans in Britain as early as the late 1400s. Even in more recent history, I rarely see representation in archives or easily accessible materials about West African presence in the UK during the 1950s - 1990s (a period that isn’t far removed from my own living reality). By starting with my family’s collection and sharing my findings online, many people have commented that they finally feel seen. I’ve received private messages from people describing me as a “cultural custodian” and a “historian,” which showed me how strongly this work resonates with those who feel historically underrepresented. Alongside this, I attended a short course in London called Undocumented, which explores archival theory and decolonial approaches to archiving for Black Londoners. As a Pan-Africanist, I’m particularly interested in expanding Akín Akin Archive through more decolonial methods. Through my studies, I’ve been thinking about how oral traditions, dance, and song are also forms of archiving, and how these practices can help document the cultures and histories of West Africa and its global diaspora.

My interest in archiving began long before I had the language to describe it. As a child, I spent hours in my parents’ back garden observing and sketching different species of butterflies, eagerly sharing my discoveries and drawings with anyone who would listen. Looking back, I realise that this early curiosity recording what I saw and preserving it through drawing was my first introduction to the instinct of documenting and keeping a record of things that mattered to me. That instinct continued to grow over the years in different ways. I remember carefully cataloguing my vinyl records and cassette tapes in a system that, while perhaps only fully understood by me, reflected a deep appreciation for organisation, memory, and preservation. A significant turning point came later when I took a DNA test, which inspired me to begin cataloguing family photographs, certificates, and recorded histories. This has since become an ongoing and deeply meaningful journey of preserving my family’s story. Alongside this, I now identify strongly as a creative person. I have begun writing short poems and scripts for performances, which I carefully keep and organise not only as a record of my creative journey, but also as a way to reflect on my growth and to serve as a reference for the future. In many ways, archiving has become both a personal practice and a way of honouring memory, creativity, and legacy.

My interest in archiving comes from my personal background and experiences. I grew up in a household where family photo albums were highly valued, and I am grateful to have access to many of those memories today. However, as I got older, I realised that I had not continued this practice myself. As a result, there are periods of my life for which I have no physical records, and I have also lost many digital materials. This experience has made me more aware of how important it is to actively preserve memories and personal histories. Through my personal projects, I aim to archive as many aspects of my family’s stories and heritage as possible. This includes documenting vernacular language, native words, and pronunciations that could be lost if my generation does not continue to use and record them. I am also interested in preserving life experiences, traditions, and narratives that I hope to pass down to future generations. For me, archiving is a way of safeguarding identity, memory, and cultural continuity. In my individual professional work, including film, animation, and drawing, I also aim to incorporate personal and cultural elements that reflect my heritage. I am grateful to have access to cultural knowledge and references that have been preserved through archives, and this inspires me to continue documenting and contributing to this ongoing process of preservation.

My relationship with archiving has always been personal. As a teenager, I was already intentional about preserving my family's visual memory and understanding the stories behind the pictures that filled our albums. Those conversations eventually took the shape of a short documentary that breathes life into those still testimonies. That process helped me understand the power of recording, holding, and revisiting stories that are often overlooked. My most significant experience in archiving came during my placement at Black Cultural Archives, which I completed alongside my MA in Film & Screen Media. Working directly with archival material deepened my understanding of how memory, culture, and identity are preserved through care and intention. During my time there, I created a documentary, "The Devaluation of Black Bodies in Media", using archival materials from the collection, with the ultimate aim of making the collection's materials more accessible to the community. Currently, I continue to investigate my personal collection, moving away from still images into VHS material. I plan to use the knowledge and tools I have gained from my time as a Screen Heritage Ambassador.

I believe in the preservation of experiences, culture, ideas, and creations—the complete conservation of life that came before. In preserving the past, the future can be better understood. My current project investigates the lives of migrants and Africans in the diaspora, asking what is left behind in the pursuit of chimeric opportunities.

My interest in archiving comes from the importance I hold for memories because I believe they help shape our identities as people. It’s important to know where and who we come from. I am working on a workshop around the importance of archiving in our personal lives.

I’ve been photographing for a number of years and always wondered what can be done with the images a thought I kept floating at the back of my mind. When the opportunity presented itself I wanted to see what I could learn about preservation and the process. I’m currently working on purposely capturing black artists in London and around the UK in Live events and doing my best to preserve our images in different areas.

I think archives are an effective way to challenge negative stories and stereotypes of a people. They provide evidence of your existence, evidence of your power and fuel for a stronger future. I have used archives quite recently to evidence the wonderful history of the Ga and Dangme people of Ghana. It brings me joy to tear down the prevailing narratives of who we are and who we were. It also brings me joy to see people smile and say 'I didnt know this', 'it makes me so proud'. I am now working on making a more extensive archive, using primarily the archives hidden in our great grandparents and Grandparents rooms (dont throw away those papers oooo), and also linking my people to an archival world that already exists.