Immersive Installation Revives Claudette Colvin's Forgotten Story

An immersive installation titled 'Noire' brings to light the story of Claudette Colvin, the 15-year-old Black activist who refused to give up her bus seat in Montgomery, Alabama, on March 2, 1955—nine months before Rosa Parks. Colvin was arrested and charged with disturbing the peace, violating segregation laws, and assault, though she only resisted an order from the bus driver and police. She was convicted of assaulting an officer, a charge that marked her life, making it difficult to find work and eventually forcing her to move to Manhattan to work as a nurse's aide. The installation, based on Tania de Montaigne's book 'Nera. La vita dimenticata di Claudette Colvin', was created by Stéphane Foenkinos and Pierre-Alain Giraud. It previously showed at Centre Pompidou in Paris, Tribeca Film Festival in New York, and Taipei. Now on view at MEET Digital Culture Center in Milan from February 3 to March 10, 2024, 'Noire' uses AR Hololens 2 glasses and bone-conduction headphones for groups of 10, immersing visitors in a 250-square-meter set with virtual figures and connected objects that recount Colvin's story in 32 minutes.