One World in Relation

In 2009, the filmmaker Manthia Diawara joined the poet and philosopher Édouard Glissant (1928-2011) on his journey across the Atlantic, while travelling from UK to Brooklyn and to Martinique, his native land. In long-lasting, inspiring and profound conversations, Glissant shares his thoughts and ideas, which are at the same time poetic and philosophical, while arguing for “one world in relation” , instead of using solid categories like identity, ethnicity or similar. Glissant is, no doubt, one of the most important thinkers of our times. His ideas, inspired by the condition of archipelagos (islands in relation) , take shape according to the poetics of multiplicity- a fragmentary theory of global relations. Glissant doesn't allow space for hegemonies to form. Instead, the ideas migrate and mix just like people, while respecting the cultures and their complexities. The differences between us are no longer irreconcilable; rather they permit us to relate to each other. And this suggests imense possibilities.

Initially conceived in the air, “the most transitional of all zones” , while flying above Europe, One World in Relation will take place at São Vicente Island in Cape Verd (West Africa) .The harbour of what nowadays became an artistic center of the archipelago used to be an important trade route in transatlantic slave commerce (connecting Africa to Lisbon and Americas) . In a world of proximities, the project is a collaboration between a curator-on-the-move and a tropical filmmaker.

OWR brings together a constellation of artworks that deal with the issues often avoided in contemporary art exhibitions like colonialism and its resonancies, (insupportable) labour conditions, (forced) migrations, and the role of art in our present condition.
Although not strictly African, all of the artists have a strong relationship with the continent and live either in the self-proclaimed capitals of modernism (London, Paris, New York) or in the emerging art centers (Luanda, Jo'burg) .

Zarina Bhimji uses poetic imagery to explore history and memory, especially of postcolonial Africa, Asia, and Europe. For the film-installation "Waiting" she made an investigation of this portion of history, constructing a fragmentary narrative and connecting it to our present moment. Shot in a factory in Kenya, the resulting artwork is an abstraction that hovers somewhere between film and painting- a monochrome that combined with a soundtrack becomes immersive.

Neil Beloufa's "Kempinski" is a fiction-doc that features people in Mali revealing their hopes and dreams for the future. Emerging from an impenetrable dark background, the protagonists are filmed against the fluorescent lights, a detail that provides the surrounding jungle with a promise of an urban city. The "actors" recount in present tense how they envisage the future. Their imaginaries reflect (un)realizable utopias. And precisely there lies their potential. Since we arrived at a point in history- perhaps a major historical turning point, a rupture in space and time- where we cannot any longer continue to "move forward", putting the western fiction of progress into question.

Zarina Bhimji: Out of Blue

“This project is about learning to listen to “difference” , the difference in shadows, microcosmos and sensitivity to difference in its various forms. Listening with the eyes, listening to changes in tone, difference of colour. It attempts to link to similar disturbances that have taken place in Kosovo and Rwanda. The work is not a personal indulgence; it is about making sense through the medium of aesthetics. It is a question that is close to my heart since the significant ethical issues have a resonance for me. I want to register these issues, to mark what has happened; elimination, extermination and erasure. Within the broader questions of difference an important part of the project would be the possibility of creative difference. Such a combination of personal and public aspects holds a particular resonance at the start of the 21^st century. I would hope that the work that emerges would be distanced from its personal or historical specifications. “ Zarina Bhimji

Watch the film on zarinabhimji.com

Zarina Bhimji: Waiting

“I am interested in the spaces, micro details and the light of these distant interiors. The location of light is an element of my composition. Information and research become crucial aspects of my work. I would hope that the work that emerges would be distanced from its personal or historical specifications.”

Watch Zarina's film "Waiting" here