Part of this year's OFF program is DE SINGEL, a welcoming arts house located in a unique building on a multifaceted arts site. DE SINGEL connects communities with artists and art practices across the globe. Building on a fascinating artistic past, DE SINGEL invites a broad audience to experience music, theatre, dance and architecture in all their variety and to discover fresh, contemporary perspectives.
During the Antwerp Art Weekend, they invite you to discover 'Chorus in Rememory of Flight' by Julianknxx. Julianknxx travelled to cities across Europe to collaborate with choirs, politicians, dancers, activists and leading figures from their Black communities during a year. Through a practice of active listening, he has collected their performances, testimonies, and contexts to create a film installation that reflects on the chorus as a means of resistance to the eradication of difference. He is inspired by the words of philosopher Édouard Glissant: ‘you can change with the Other while being yourself, you are not one, you are multiple, and you are yourself’.
Filmed in Hamburg, Berlin, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Antwerp, London, Marseille, Barcelona and Lisbon, the project charts a staggering 4000 kilometres; these vast distances offer a reflection on the many miles traversed by those interviewed and by their ancestors throughout history. A single refrain – ‘we are what’s left of us’ – binds the choral voices together, speaking to the ways in which music can be a vital conduit for the survival of cultural memory.
On the occasion of the exhibition at DE SINGEL, Julianknxx will talk about his installation Chorus in Rememory of Flight on May 18, 20:00.