Ritual Without Belief (2018, 2024)
Effusive Expression, Oceanic Wisdom part 2
The entrance to ‘Ritual Without Belief’, Black Ancient Futures exhibition, MAAT Lisbon, September 2024
Before we even get into the sound
I am thinking about the interaction I want the viewer to have
I set an intention
An invitation to take shoes off invites a different way of engaging with the space.
No 1. Start From A Place of Abundance, Ritual Without Belief series (1 of 4), Photographed by Bernice Mulenga, 2018 within ‘Ritual Without Belief’, Black Ancient Futures exhibition, MAAT Lisbon, September 2024
Extract from my notes taken at the Octavia E Butler Archive at the Huntingdon Botanical Gardens and Library, Los Angeles, 2018
Screenshot from text co authored with GPT-3 for New Mystics by Alice Bucknell, read the rest of the interview here.
A reflection the role of archives within my work and the huge impact that the period of time spent at Octavia E Butler’s archive has played in my practice, and in the making of Ritual Without Belief in particular. She made a practice of calling in what she wanted to see into existence - she affirmed the reality she wanted for herself into reality.
Watch the interview in full here
No 2. Can You Practice Stillness? Ritual Without Belief series (2 of 4), Photographed by Bernice Mulenga, 2018
Can you practice stillness?
Still but alert, poised and relaxed.
Notice any tics, habits and return back to the body.
Do not judge, but notice.
Other photographs in the series are titled -
No 3. Turn away from scarcity, towards the gifts that already surround you
No 4. Move how you feel comfortable: Now move through the world like that
‘Ritual Without Belief’ is a work that affirms the reality I want to call into existence.
Anchored across the durational sound work is the loop, the chorus, the affirmation, repetition, reiteration – the echo as affective encounter, the lyric a gesture towards a new becoming. A sonic gesture that contributes to a more embodied awareness and engagement with the complexity of Black life.
- ‘Melanin-o-phonic Space Or, The Speaker Body As Totem’ for Arts.Black, 2019
‘Ritual Without Belief’ is currently on display as part of Black Ancient Futures at MAAT Lisbon, until March 2025.