Rewind @ ViaThea Festival, Görlitz (DE)

Smaïl Kanouté is a multidisciplinary artist whose practice originates in graphic design and visual composition and extends into dance, performance, and moving image. Based in Paris, his artistic formation combines formal training at the École nationale supérieure des Arts Décoratifs with embodied knowledge acquired through dance in the streets and social spaces of France, Brazil, Mali, and across Europe. Defining himself as a “choreo-graphist,” Kanouté approaches movement as a form of writing and drawing in space, where the body produces motifs, patterns, and visual rhythms that function as a living, abstract alphabet. Through Company Vivons!, founded in 2016, Kanouté develops performances, choreographic works, dance films, and hybrid formats, moving fluidly between visual art, choreography, and storytelling, and informed by collaborations across fashion, design, video, and the performing arts.