On Marronage : Reflections on BE.BOP 2016 (Day 1 & 2)

writer, artist, curator Alanna Lockward of Art Labour Archives photo courtesy of Simmi Dullay

Yesterday witnessed the kick off of BE.BOP 2016 Black Body Politics: Call & Response.  An Art Labour Project curated by Alanna Lockward, BE.BOP is a loving decolonial space that gathers artists, thinkers, educators and political activists from all over the diaspora (over 20 countries). At last count countries included those on the continent of Africa  (Senegal, Ghana, Sudan, Senegal to name a few), Europe (Sweden, Denmark, Berlin, Switzerland etc.), South America and the Caribbean. This year's theme is that of 'marronage' - stemming from the concept of "maroon" - that space created by our ancestors who refused to be enslaved.

What does it mean to create a community amidst the enemy? 

The event began with a panel discussion based on the publication of BE.BOP 2012-2014 in Argentina. It includes the work of Erna Brodber, Fatima El Tayeb, Walter Mignolo, Teresa M. Diaz Nerio, Attwell Cain, Robbie Shilliam, Rolando Vazquez, Simmi Dullay, Manuela Boatca, Julie Roth, Yoel Diaz Vazquez, Jeannetter Ehlers, Patricial Kaersenhout, Quinsy Gario and myself. It's the first time my work has been translated into Spanish and the book looks beautiful. I am very honored to be included in this anthology and amongst such shining stars.

This was followed by a screening of 'Ori' by Raquel Gerber (1989, Berlin premiere).  'Ori' means "head" in Yoruba. The film uses images from Beatriz Nascimento's search for her own African identity and from the Black emancipation movement in Brazil during the 1970s and 80s. The result is a visual narrative of what many of us in the African diaspora can relate to- whether it's heated community debates or images of worshippers clad in all white.  There is an immediacy to the imagery of Blackness in this film - a moving testimony to the overwhelming presence we have in Brazil and how applicable the issues of yesterday seem to apply unfortunately, to today. No matter where we are. As a testimony to the universal language of the film - it is narrated in Portuguese but the imagery was so captivating it proved that all you need to have in order to overcome language barriers is an open heart.

The Blacker the Berry the Sweeter the Juice World Premiere & One Love, one aim, many destinies. The Black Parade: Let's liberate, Parade

The Black Parade, Jeannette Ehlers (Berlin, 2016) photo: Simmi Dullay

With its immediate reference to vigour, this site-specic installation is a subtle tribute to marronage and contextualises the idea of protest, counterculture and empowerment in a subtle and intense manner. The soundtrack poetically interacts with the wavering balloon and thus also embed Call and Response dynamics on several levels. Call and Response derived from African oral, democratic, social and rhythmic traditions brought by enslaved Africans during the transatlantic enslavement trade and emerged in new ways in the New World and has since been continued in popular music. Call and Response is a vital practice; a pattern, a form of communicati- on and a compositional structure; a survival strategy. This public space installation equally addresses the widespread racism that characterises Europe and the West while celebrating collective dreams.

Jeannette  Ehlers, the Trinidadian Danish artist, created an ethereal-like space where, like the 100s of Black balloons we held on to during our parade, our walk through the streets of Berlin seemed to be effortless, with our feet seeming to barely touch the ground.  This magic was created by her piece "The Blacker the Berry, the Sweeter the Juice" - a world premiere.  Blasting Kendrik Lamar in homage to our tradition of 'call & response' a group of 50+ folks walked through the streets of Berlin from Voksbuhne to the newly re-built Berlin castle, where a museum of 'non-European' artifacts looted by Germany will be put on display.  We walked under the motto, "One love, one aim, many destinies. The Black parade: Let's liberate!" Our path led us to through Rosenstrasse, where during the Nazi dictatorship, women protested the detention of their Jewish husbands based on the miscegenation laws which are connected to similar laws in German's former colony, Namibia- the testing ground for the Jewish genocide camps to come.

Augustus Casely-Hayford, Jeannette Ehlers, Robbie Shilliam, Walter Mignolo & Quinsy Gario
photo credit Simmi Dullay

Session 1 'Marronage and Border Thinking' featuring Walter Mignolo, Robbie Shilliam, Augustus Casely-Hayford and Jeannette Ehlers. This panel was moderated by Quinsy Gario.   Ehlers presented a short film shot in New Orleans that features two actors, speaking to each other through their mobile telephones - lines from a Hans Christian Andersen play.  With a flawless performance by both actors Andersen's lines from his play "the Mulatto" takes on interesting nuances in today's world. Based on one slave's idea about rebellion and resistance Ehlers upgrades an antiquated tale and breathes new life into lines that disturbingly resonates still, today.  Shilliam conjured High John the Conqueror through the spirits of Zora Neale Hurston and Franz Fanon in a creative seance of sorts  while Mignolo lent his expertise in the areas of 'border and maroon thinking'.  Augustus Casely-Hayford spoke about his present project as curator for the National Portrait Gallery in England's upcoming show on the abolishment of slavery and how a project such as this requires a sort of taking on of historical gaps which many institutions rarely due to issues of sensitivity.



Session 2: Marronage, (de)colonialiste and inter-cultural education featured Pedro Pablo Gomez, Rolando Vazquez, Simmi Dullay and Rod Sachs and was moderated by Ovidiu  Tichindeleanu. Highlights included Dullay's take on student activism in South Africa and the idea of primitivism and the role it plays in interpreting and defining our perception of ourselves and each other. How Black rebellion tends to be dismissed and devalued by others.  Rod Sachs presented a performance play and poem that utilized the participants on the stage and used his' body as self as object in decoloniality.'

My African Food Map by Tuleka Prah was screened with its documentation of the cuisine from the continent shared by various people. The dishes and people were inviting and perhaps even familiar to many of us and the celebration of African food seemed a fitting tribute to a continent and a people to whom the world is indebted to agriculturally. So many foods such as plantains, cassavas and even okra are said to have originated in Africa- all foods that no matter where you are from in the diaspora, you will be familiar with.

Teresa Maria Diaz Nerio, Arieto Indestructible photo courtesy of Simmi Dullay

The day ended with Teresa Maria Diaz Nerio's world premiere of Arieto Indestructible (a performance).  Arieto is a Taino ritual celebration where some of the original inhabitants of the Caribbean, the Arawak people, got together to dance, sing and share poems.  Nerio's performance was in homage to all our loved ones who have continued their journeys beyond this realm, such as Bebopean womanist filmmaker Anika Gibbons (January 20, 1973-January 5, 2016). Gibbon's film Journey to Liberation: The Legacy of Womanist Theology and Womanist Ethics at Union Theological Seminary was presented during BE.BOP 2014. Gibbons passed last JanuaryUsing Taino, Spanish, English and Mandarin Diaz Nerio engaged with the audience regarding ideas of the Caribbean, Kali the creator-destroyer goddess and the sea.



Day Two continued in this tradition of creating safe spaces for children of the diaspora. A marronage in the middle of Berlin. In the middle of Europe.  Napuli's tree, a work in progress by Yoel Diaz Vazquez documents Napuli Langa's action of climbing a sycamore tree on Oranienplatz in protest to the "migrant crisis" here in Europe.  She remained there for five days without food, defying the weather to challenge the racist German asylum practices.  Napuli Langa's spirit is indeed a modern marronage - and when she asked us, the crowd today, "where do we (black people) go?" it was with a particular historical and contemporary resonance that we all must heed.

Quinsy Gario's Black, Basically a genealogical, Materialist analysis, a world premiere was a performance based on shadows, the material, light and silence. This work is said to be inspired by the Aboriginal Embassy founded in 1972 by four aboriginal men in protest to Australia's Invasion Day and the work of the show Basically Black written by Gary Foley and Bob Maza which offered refreshing commentary on the attitudes of the white dominant culture and their genocide of the aboriginal people.  Using a collection of objects place about the room, such as toy soldiers and an old vhs tape, the artist invited the audience to explore the darkness with him, using video and cell phone technology.

Session 4, Enslavement, genocide and the colonially of memory featured Artwell Cain who spoke on the politics of memory, the legacy of slavery and anti-Black racism. His presentation, "Reclaiming Self- Decolonizing Memory and Skin Whitening," is a plan not towards emancipation, he said, but liberation.

On issues of skin whitening it is interesting to recall the 16th century masque entitled, "The Masque of Blackness" (1605) for it could be the first recorded art where whiteness is heralded above all beauty. Written during England's blossoming colonial power the "masque" is how three daughters of Niger traveled to England in order to be "fair". It is considered one of the first works of art that illustrated England's colonial programming.

Ovidiu Tichindeleanu (Romania) spoke about "sugar and bread" - the Caribbean providing Europe sugar and Eastern Europe as a source for Europe's bread. He connected the dots between serfdom and slavery and confirmed my earlier suspicions that Eastern Europe has been as exploited and jostled about as Africa. Unfortunately the growing xenophobia in these regions defy any meaningful solidarity between the many people who do in fact have perhaps much more in common than different.

Manuela Boatca spoke about Europe, her possessions and the ambiguous status that many colonial powers seem to have with former colonies.  She pointed out the fact that France had demanded a reissue of a Euro bank note as it did not represent the entire French territory when it did not depict her possessions in the Caribbean.