The work is an immersive installation of sweeping, suspended textiles, partially concealed text and moving image which celebrates community through themes of friendship, courage and revival. Inspired by the journals and newsletters of the Organisation for Women of Asian and African Descent (OWAAD), a pioneering activist network established in 1978, the installation interweaves remixed poetry and text fragments from the journals to explore the different ways in which community is formed.
Mkutano // A Place for Us, celebrates small-scale, daily acts of knowledge sharing, joy and solidarity. It holds space for the letters, poetry, voice notes and gifs that nurture these communities and invites us to contribute our own reflections through writing, drawing or simply spending time within the installation.
Mkutano is a Swahili word that means “a meeting”; it is a consideration on how we remember each other, how we weave into one another - the fragments we leave behind in imagery, words and gesture. Offering a place to find comfort in a world that for many of us, is ‘on fire’.
The work was shown as part of the Boundary Encounters exhibition at Modern Art Oxford, alongside works by Harold Offeh, Julie Freeman and Deborah Pill.
There was a durational performance that unfolded in the installation, where a mat was being woven communally with the audience with excerpts of readings and dance.
Special thanks to the Modern Art Oxford team.
Read more on the work on the Modern Art Oxford Blog page below.
Image Credit: Ben Westboy
Image Credit: Ben Westboy
