Languid Hands: Towards a Black Testimony
Our House, your Home
Towards A Black Testimony: Prayer/Protest/Peace by Languid Hands (clip) from Rabz Lansiquot on Vimeo.
26 oktober - 20 december 2019
Locatie: Stroom, Hogewal 1-9, Den Haag
Doorlopende filmvertoningen Towards a Black Testimony: Prayer/Protest/Peace
Het project Towards a Black Testimony van het Londense curatorenduo Languid Hands (bestaande uit Imani Robinson en Rabz Lansiquot) brengt kunstenaars, denkers, schrijvers, luisteraars en sprekers, zieners en zoekers, bij elkaar om samen de complexiteit van 'Black Testimony' (Zwarte getuigenissen) te onderzoeken.
In de tentoonstellingsruimte van Stroom Den Haag presenteert Languid Hands hun nieuwe film Towards a Black Testimony: Prayer/Protest/Peace (gemaakt in opdracht van Jerwood Arts, Londen, UK). Via archiefbeelden, Zwarte geografieën en de laatste woorden van Zwarte martelaren, onderzoekt de 40-minuten-lange film hoezeer 'Black Testimony' wordt genegeerd, vertroebeld en vaak totaal ondermijnd. De ondertitel van het werk - Prayer/Protest/Peace - is ontleend aan de derde track op het album We Insist! (1960) van jazzdrummer en componist Max Roach (i.s.m. vocalist Abbey Lincoln). Met deze compositie als onderliggende structuur voor de film zelf, presenteert Languid Hands drie hoofdstukken of overpeinzingen over dood en sterven en over de on/mogelijkheid van ‘Black Testimony'. Via tal van bekende en minder bekende Zwarte teksten neemt de film het publiek mee op een reis door een performatieve lezing, geschreven en gegeven door Imani Robinson en zorgvuldig geannoteerd met de resultaten van Rabz Lansiquot's archiefonderzoek.
In de tentoonstellingsruimte van Stroom Den Haag presenteert Languid Hands hun nieuwe film Towards a Black Testimony: Prayer/Protest/Peace (gemaakt in opdracht van Jerwood Arts, Londen, UK). Via archiefbeelden, Zwarte geografieën en de laatste woorden van Zwarte martelaren, onderzoekt de 40-minuten-lange film hoezeer 'Black Testimony' wordt genegeerd, vertroebeld en vaak totaal ondermijnd. De ondertitel van het werk - Prayer/Protest/Peace - is ontleend aan de derde track op het album We Insist! (1960) van jazzdrummer en componist Max Roach (i.s.m. vocalist Abbey Lincoln). Met deze compositie als onderliggende structuur voor de film zelf, presenteert Languid Hands drie hoofdstukken of overpeinzingen over dood en sterven en over de on/mogelijkheid van ‘Black Testimony'. Via tal van bekende en minder bekende Zwarte teksten neemt de film het publiek mee op een reis door een performatieve lezing, geschreven en gegeven door Imani Robinson en zorgvuldig geannoteerd met de resultaten van Rabz Lansiquot's archiefonderzoek.
Tijdens een interactief publieksprogramma bij Stroom op zaterdag 26 en zondag 27 oktober 2019 zullen speciale gasten op uitnodiging van Languid Hands op het werk reageren, via interventies, discussies en performances. Met bijdragen van Black Quantum Futurism (Camae Ayewa & Rasheedah Phillips), Shenece Oretha, Rebecca Bellantoni en Zinzi Minott. Languid Hands heeft ook Deborah Cameron uitgenodigd om een serie
talkshows (DeeDee Talks) en workshops te organiseren met jonge mensen van kleur, waarin het thema ‘Black Testimony' in een Haagse context wordt
geplaatst.
PUBLIEKSPROGRAMMA
PUBLIEKSPROGRAMMA
Zaterdag 26 oktober 2019
Locatie: Stroom Den Haag
Screening van Towards a Black Testimony: Prayer/Protest/Peace
19:00-21.30 uur: Performances door:
Zinzi Minott: IN MOVEMENT
Rebecca Bellantoni: HOW GREAT THOU ART
Shenece Oretha: HERE, PRESENT
17:00-19:00 uur: Languid Hands Q&A:
met Rabz Lansiquot, Imani Robinson, en Lua VollaardScreening van Towards a Black Testimony: Prayer/Protest/Peace
19:00-21.30 uur: Performances door:
Zinzi Minott: IN MOVEMENT
Rebecca Bellantoni: HOW GREAT THOU ART
Shenece Oretha: HERE, PRESENT
Na het programma op zaterdag vindt er een Afterparty plaats (22:00-03:00 uur) bij The Grey Space in the Middle, o.l.v. Narges Mohammedi. Met de DJ's: Rabz, DJ Fitgirl, Latoya en Fatima Ferrari. Toegang: gratis.
Zondag 27 oktober 2019
Locatie: Stroom Den Haag
17:00-17:45 uur: 'Artist round table' met Camae Ayewa, Rasheedah Phillips, Rebecca Bellantoni, Shenece Oretha, Rabz Lansiquot en Imani Robinson.
17:45-18:30 uur: pauze
18:30-19:30 uur: performance door Black Quantum Futurism
Locatie: Stroom Den Haag
17:00-17:45 uur: 'Artist round table' met Camae Ayewa, Rasheedah Phillips, Rebecca Bellantoni, Shenece Oretha, Rabz Lansiquot en Imani Robinson.
17:45-18:30 uur: pauze
18:30-19:30 uur: performance door Black Quantum Futurism
Gesprek met een panel van jongeren/jongvolwassenen van de tweede generatie en ouderen uit de eerste generatie Afro Nederlanders uit Den Haag.
Gesprek met een panel van leden uit de Queer gemeenschap van Den Haag.
MORE ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Languid Hands
Languid Hands is een artistieke en curatoriële samenwerking tussen DJ, filmmaker en programmamaker Rabz Lansiquot, en schrijver, facilitator en 'live art practitioner' Imani Robinson. Zij werkten voor het eerst samen in 2015, via hun werk voor het collectief sorryyoufeeluncomfortable (SYFU), dat zich richtte op het verkennen van Zwarte en queer studies, de Zwarte creatieve praktijk, de Zwarte bevrijdingspraktijk en queer methodologieën.
Black Quantum Futurism
Black Quantum Futurism is a collaboration between Camae Ayewa (Moor Mother) & Rasheedah Phillips. They will present an immersive performance in response to the themes of Towards a Black Testimony of which sound is a central element. Their performances include voice, the live composition of electronic music and noise, film and three dimensional setting. BQF is a new approach to living and experiencing reality by way of the manipulation of space-time in order to see into possible futures, and/or collapse space-time into a desired future in order to bring about that future's reality. This vision and practice derives its facets, tenets, and qualities from quantum physics and Black/African cultural traditions of consciousness, time, and space.
www.blackquantumfuturism.com
Black Quantum Futurism is a collaboration between Camae Ayewa (Moor Mother) & Rasheedah Phillips. They will present an immersive performance in response to the themes of Towards a Black Testimony of which sound is a central element. Their performances include voice, the live composition of electronic music and noise, film and three dimensional setting. BQF is a new approach to living and experiencing reality by way of the manipulation of space-time in order to see into possible futures, and/or collapse space-time into a desired future in order to bring about that future's reality. This vision and practice derives its facets, tenets, and qualities from quantum physics and Black/African cultural traditions of consciousness, time, and space.
www.blackquantumfuturism.com
Shenece Oretha
Shenece Oretha is a multidisciplinary artist who lives and works in London. Her works negotiate the physicality of sound. Creating space for collectivity, poly-vocality and to emphasise listening as an embodied practice. Converging installations, performance, text, print and sculpture to shape moments of communion and ceremony. She draws a connection between the working of sound, feeling and Black experience through all areas of her practice. In 2019 Shenece presented her first solo project Testing Grounds with not/nowhere and Kammer Klang at the Café Oto. Recently she has presented work at Somerset House; Wysing Arts Centre, Cambridge; Tate Modern & Britain and Institute of Contemporary Arts, London.
Rebecca Bellantoni
Rebecca Bellantoni is an artist based in London. Bellantoni mines everyday occurrences and abstracts them. Investigating, through the lens of metaphysics, comparative theology, philosophy, religion and spirituality and the aesthetics of them. She gently prises apart the concept of the accepted/expected ‘real' and the experiential ‘real'; looking at how these removed borders may offer meditative experiences and portals to self, collective reasoning and healing thought. Her practice is wide ranging and encompasses video, performance, photography, textiles, printmaking, sculpture, writing and sound-text.
Recent work has been shown at Ravens Row, London, Mimosa House, London, PUBLICs, Helsinki, Palais de Tokyo, Paris and The Womens Art Library. Recent collaborative performances with Rowdy SS have taken place at 180 The Strand, Block Universe performance art festival, Shangri-la, Glastonbury festival and E-WERK Luckenwalde, Berlin.
Zinzi Minott
Zinzi Minott's work focuses on the relationship between dance, bodies and politics. Strongly identifying as a dancer, she seeks to complicate the boundaries of dance and the place of black female bodies within the form. Her work explores how dance is perceived through the prisms of race, queer culture, gender and class. Zinzi is interested in the space between dance and other art forms, and though her practice is driven through dance, the outcomes range from performance and live art to sound, film, dances and object-based work.
www.zinziminott.com
Shenece Oretha is a multidisciplinary artist who lives and works in London. Her works negotiate the physicality of sound. Creating space for collectivity, poly-vocality and to emphasise listening as an embodied practice. Converging installations, performance, text, print and sculpture to shape moments of communion and ceremony. She draws a connection between the working of sound, feeling and Black experience through all areas of her practice. In 2019 Shenece presented her first solo project Testing Grounds with not/nowhere and Kammer Klang at the Café Oto. Recently she has presented work at Somerset House; Wysing Arts Centre, Cambridge; Tate Modern & Britain and Institute of Contemporary Arts, London.
Rebecca Bellantoni
Rebecca Bellantoni is an artist based in London. Bellantoni mines everyday occurrences and abstracts them. Investigating, through the lens of metaphysics, comparative theology, philosophy, religion and spirituality and the aesthetics of them. She gently prises apart the concept of the accepted/expected ‘real' and the experiential ‘real'; looking at how these removed borders may offer meditative experiences and portals to self, collective reasoning and healing thought. Her practice is wide ranging and encompasses video, performance, photography, textiles, printmaking, sculpture, writing and sound-text.
Recent work has been shown at Ravens Row, London, Mimosa House, London, PUBLICs, Helsinki, Palais de Tokyo, Paris and The Womens Art Library. Recent collaborative performances with Rowdy SS have taken place at 180 The Strand, Block Universe performance art festival, Shangri-la, Glastonbury festival and E-WERK Luckenwalde, Berlin.
Zinzi Minott
Zinzi Minott's work focuses on the relationship between dance, bodies and politics. Strongly identifying as a dancer, she seeks to complicate the boundaries of dance and the place of black female bodies within the form. Her work explores how dance is perceived through the prisms of race, queer culture, gender and class. Zinzi is interested in the space between dance and other art forms, and though her practice is driven through dance, the outcomes range from performance and live art to sound, film, dances and object-based work.
www.zinziminott.com
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Our House, your Home
Languid Hands is de derde gast binnen het experimentele programma Our House, your Home, waarvoor Stroom Den Haag internationale organisaties uitnodigt om tijdelijk de tentoonstellingsruimte over te nemen, om de dingen te doen die zij het meest urgent, passend, of uitdagend vinden. Onze eerste twee gasten waren: Visual Culture Research Center uit Kiev (Oekraïne) en left gallery, een digitaal platform uit Berlijn (Duitsland).
Towards a Black Testimony komt tot stand dankzij de financiële steun van Mondriaan Fonds en Gemeente Den Haag.
Jerwood Arts website (film review), november 2019
- 26 Oct '19 - 20 Dec '19
- Stroom Den Haag, Hogewal 1-9, Den Haag
- Entree: gratis
Languid Hands, 'Towards a Black Testimony: Prayer/Protest/Peace', film screening
foto: courtesy Languid Hands, Jerwood Arts & Stroom Den Haag
foto: courtesy Languid Hands, Jerwood Arts & Stroom Den Haag
Logo Languid Hands
Languid Hands, 'Towards a Black Testimony: Prayer/Protest/Peace', film screening
foto: Tarona Leonora, courtesy Stroom Den Haag
foto: Tarona Leonora, courtesy Stroom Den Haag
Languid Hands, 'Towards a Black Testimony: Prayer/Protest/Peace', film screening
foto: Anna Arca, courtesy Languid Hands, Jerwood Arts & Stroom Den Haag
foto: Anna Arca, courtesy Languid Hands, Jerwood Arts & Stroom Den Haag
Opening weekend 'Towards a Black Testimony': Languid Hands Q&A: with Rabz Lansiquot, Imani Robinson and Lua Vollaard
foto: Tarona Leonora, courtesy Stroom Den Haag
foto: Tarona Leonora, courtesy Stroom Den Haag
Opening weekend 'Towards a Black Testimony': Performance Rebecca Bellantoni 'HOW GREAT THOU ART'
foto: Tarona Leonora, courtesy Stroom Den Haag
foto: Tarona Leonora, courtesy Stroom Den Haag
Opening weekend 'Towards a Black Testimony' Performance Shenece Oretha: 'HERE, PRESENT'
foto: Tarona Leonora, courtesy Stroom Den Haag
foto: Tarona Leonora, courtesy Stroom Den Haag
Opening weekend 'Towards a Black Testimony' Performance Zinzi Minott 'IN MOVEMENT'
foto: Tarona Leonora, courtesy Stroom Den Haag
foto: Tarona Leonora, courtesy Stroom Den Haag
Round table with Camae Ayewa, Rasheedah Phillips, Rebecca Bellantoni, Shenece Oretha, Rabz Lansiquot and Imani Robinson
foto: Tarona Leonora, courtesy Stroom Den Haag
foto: Tarona Leonora, courtesy Stroom Den Haag
Round table with Camae Ayewa, Rasheedah Phillips, Rebecca Bellantoni, Shenece Oretha, Rabz Lansiquot and Imani Robinson
foto: Tarona Leonora, courtesy Stroom Den Haag
foto: Tarona Leonora, courtesy Stroom Den Haag
Opening weekend 'Towards a Black Testimony' Performance Black Quantum Futurism
foto: Tarona Leonora, courtesy Stroom Den Haag
foto: Tarona Leonora, courtesy Stroom Den Haag
Opening weekend 'Towards a Black Testimony' Performance Black Quantum Futurism
foto: Tarona Leonora, courtesy Stroom Den Haag
foto: Tarona Leonora, courtesy Stroom Den Haag
Towards a Black Testimony
foto: courtesy the artists
foto: courtesy the artists
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DeeDee Talks (Young Ones vs Golden Oldies)
DeeDee Talks (Black Queer Testimonies)
By DeeDee presents: Black Testimony
'We Insist!", Max Roach album (1960)