EdKe

DRAWING LINES: performing negrotivities – May 31, 2022. Residency activity at Despina in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Co-curated with Yhuri Cruz

In 2016, I devised I kroywara I as adage. This imaginary is such as Namaste, Ubuntu, and In Lak’ ech. To inform my practice, I focus on I walk with you, you walk with I.

My urge is to challenge power structures. This process often leads to cognitive, emotional and ethical tension. However, I am convinced that performing within communal context and local knowledge transforms these tensions into strength. As a consequence, my practice is informed by koiwara: an indigenous ritual performed by mothers and children. This technology is used in agricultural processing of a Caribbean community known as Kari’na. After moshiro – general preparation by men in the community – each Kari’na family individually proceeds with koiwara: re-burning of wood piles that were insufficiently burned.

In staging and performing, I specifically identify with koiwara’s sustainable essence and admire its significance to nature, culture, and networks. In a similar manner, I encounter others to create magic aiming at altering violence rooted in history.