De-familiarised Family
2022, cotton, 90 x 60 cm
in collaboration with Isaac Gyasi
Inspired by the last chapter of Kwame Nkrumah’s book “Consciencism”, the woven work blends techniques from the Western and Kente traditions. The formula admonishes that the union of the liberated countries is possible if, and only if, positive actions grow and negative ones tend to zero in each of the liberated countries. The de-colonial value of this message includes the posthuman outlook in the present day.
Exhibition
In Minor Keys, 2026, 61st Venice Biennale, Venice (Italy), curated by Koyo Kouoh, as part of blaxTARLINES KUMASI
M-Bassy, Hamburg (Germany), 2022, part of the art residency Back to the Small Stage
Description
The work “De-familiarised Family” is inspired by “Consciencism. Philosophy and Ideology for Decolonisation” (second edition, 1970). The formula from the last chapter of the book is hand-woven by blending Kente and Western techniques to create a symbolic-polychromatic towel. Present on both sides of the fabric, when the back is mirrored, the formula is doubled, manifesting the sense of a union in its making, the generative fruit of a continuous exchange, only possible by increasing positive actions and decreasing negative ones. The formula and the phrases are understood not only in the horizon of modern post-colonialism but also in the contemporary posthuman perspective, recalling the transpecific immanence elaborated by Rosi Braidotti.
Image Credits
Category
- Textile
