Afro-Sonic Mapping

Based on his investigation of what he terms “the Migration of the Eternal Afro-Sonic Signifier,” Hoyt samples archival recordings, interweaving them with the contemporary trajectories of this mnemonic network of sounds that continue to bond people of the transnational African Diaspora today. In his exhibition at HKW, large-scale canvases map out the transmigration between continents, enacting pictorial, sonic, spiritual and sociopolitical sensitivities.

This project twists the emphasis in conservation and preservation of conventional archives that transmit “value” only in relation to the past. In turn, Afro-Sonic Mapping transforms already-existing archives by uncovering forms of diasporic memory and tying their lineages to contemporary practices of musicians, artists and authors. The exhibition manifests the production of culture as a living activity and as method that resonates with wider processes of cultural liberation and restitution.