In her artistic practice, Barby Asante focuses on everyday methods and strategies of decolonization to discuss the ways in which historical and personal events are remembered, misremembered, or forgotten. In many of her works, concrete physical as well as affective spaces are created to interrogate the politics of memory by examining the effects of political structures on mnemonic processes. By inviting others to contribute, Asante emphasizes her conception of an integral, collaborative, performative, and dialogic practice. The ongoing work Declaration of Independence recreates a physical space reminiscent of congressional chambers, where treaties of independence, trade deals, manifestos, and legislative policies are produced, negotiated, and approved. For Bwa Kayiman, Asante develops and enacts the work with the contribution and collaboration of local womxn of colour, with whom they interlink a plurality of personal narratives and manifestos related to the legacies of slavery and colonialism. Together they form a chorus response to Ama Ata Aidoo’s 1992 poem ‘As Always a Painful Declaration of Independence’. The voices come together in a live performance, centring the role of womxn of colour in world history as a collective act of learning and healing.

Video in the HKW Mediathek