A Declaration Of Independence
1 sound
A Declaration Of Independence: For Ama. For Aba. For Khadija And Mary
Barby Asante
13:27 min Listen to the work on the bridge off Fondamenta Van Axel which looks out towards the 2017 Diaspora Pavilion, Palazzo Pisani a Santa Marina.
Drawing on her work displayed at the Diaspora Pavilion (2017) ‘As Always A Painful Declaration: For Ama. For Aba. For Charlotte And Adjoa. Preface: Intimacy And Distance’, Asante has created this piece as a dedication to artist Khadija Saye and her mother Mary Mendy who died in the Grenfell Fire on June 14th 2017, London. Asante's work takes its inspiration from Ama Ata Aidoo's poem ‘As Always, A Painful Declaration Of Independence’, as a way to collectively and performatively collect and archive stories of women of colour as they navigate a world of white supremacist hetero-patriarchy and how they attempt to ‘be-come’ in a world where their survival is not promised. This piece was written two days after the Grenfell Fire and was first performed at the Feminist Emergencies Conference at Birkbeck, University of London.
Voices: Barby Asante, Kim Bowers, Samia Henri
Texts: Ancestress, Barby Asante and Samia Henni
Sound Design: Barby Asante and Gianmaria Givanni
Voice Recording: Kat Anderson
Samples: Don't Let me Down, Charlotte Dada & Angela Davis at the Women's March on Washington
Quote: The Undercommons: Fugitive Planning & A Black Studies, Fred Moten and Stefano Harney
Barby Asante is an artist, curator and educator whose work seeks to create spaces for dialogue, collective thinking, ritual and re-enactment. Using archival material in the broadest sense, she is interested in breaking down the language of the archive to interrupt, interrogate and explore the effects and possibilities of the unheard and the missing. She presented work in the Diaspora Pavilion during the 57th Venice Biennale.
Sound Works © The Artists and Contributors Texts © The Artists, Contributors and Curator Website © Sonic Soundings / Venice Trajectories
All rights are reserved, including the rights of reproduction, distribution, translation in whole or in part in any form.
