The 'Archaeology of Contemplation' project uses the image of a boat as a metaphor for memory, remembering those who were transported as cargo by the British and other nations.
Kilomba's proposal includes an 11 meter long rectangular plinth on which 140 black bronze cast pieces will be placed in the shape of a ship to symbolize the transport of slaves with 18 gilded bronze pieces in honor of the victims.
The sculpture will have engraved a poem by the Portuguese artist and translated it into six different languages of communities descending from the African diaspora in London.
"I propose a poetic sculpture to promote reflection on the Middle Passage. The Middle Passage was the brutal journey of millions of enslaved Africans across the Atlantic to forced labor in the Caribbean and the Americas", described the artist.
The new monument, the first of its kind in the United Kingdom, scheduled to be opened in 2026, will be financed with 500 thousand pounds (590 thousand euros) allocated by the mayor, Sadiq Khan.
The initiative includes an educational program to reflect on the experiences and resistance of enslaved Africans and on London's role in organizing and financing the slave trade.
The other shortlisted artists are Alberta Whittle, Helen Cammock, Hew Locke, Khaleb Brooks and Zak Ové.
The memorial will be located on West India Quay, in the Docklands area, an area located next to the River Thames where there are still buildings that were once used to store sugar from West Indian plantations where enslaved men, women and children worked.
This historical relationship with transatlantic slavery is already recognized by the London Docklands Museum.
The memorial will be near the site where a statue of Robert Milligan (1746-1809) stood until it was removed in 2020 following pressure resulting from the Black Lives Matter movement.
Kilomba proposes replacing the plinth where that statue stood with an area for people to sit to "remember and contemplate".
Grada Kilomba was among the group of five creators invited to present a proposal for a slavery memorial in Lisbon, a competition that would choose the Angolan artist Kiluanji Kia Henda.
Born in 1968 in Lisbon, she lives and works in Berlin, Germany, where she completed a PhD in Philosophy.
With roots in São Tomé and Príncipe and Angola, Grada Kilomba has worked on issues of racism, post-colonialism, memory and trauma and gender.
Her works have been exhibited at events such as the 10th Berlin Biennale, Documenta 14 in Kassel, the Lubumbashi Biennale VI, and the 32nd São Paulo Biennale, as well as in several international museums and theaters.
The installation and performance 'The Boat' was presented at Somerset House, London, in 2022.
As support for her work, the Portuguese artist has chosen performance, scenic reading, texts, video and installation, focusing on the themes of memory, trauma, gender and post-colonialism, being represented in public and private collections such as the Tate Modern, London.
No comments:
Post a Comment