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5pm: Reception and Afrocosmologies exhibition viewing
6pm: “Homage to My Hips” Performance
Free.
Adama Delphine Fawundu, visual and performance artist featured in Afrocosmologies, explores her West African heritage in “Homage to My Hips”. The performance is named after a poem by prominent African American poet Lucille Clifton, and is inspired by ancient West African deities such as Mami Wata and Yemoja.
In her film the cleanse—which will be playing during her performance—Fawundu considers the cyclical nature of ritual as it mirrors the cycle of life. Vivid images of natural elements and references to the African diaspora—including hair, water, “blood”, milk, and cotton—are constructed as metaphors and symbols paired with trap music, spiritual texts, Mende harvest chants, and words from authors such as James Baldwin, Toni Morrison, Erykah Badu, Alice Walker, Sojourner Truth, Audre Lorde, and Gayle Jones.