Curated by Tsedaye Makonnen

DC-based interdisciplinary artist Tsedaye Makonnen presents “Black Women as/and the Living Archive,” a multi-part project aimed at initiating a conversation about the modes in which Black women encode, preserve, and share memory through community. Central to Makonnen’s inquiry is Children of NAN: Mothership, a recent film by Alisha Wormsley that functions as a metaphor for the survival and power of Black women in a dystopic future.

Over the course of six weeks, Makonnen will bring together Wormsley and many of the cast and collaborators of Children of NAN: Mothership for a film screening, a reading, two performances, and a discussion. The participants include artists Li Harris, Autumn Knight, and Jasmine Hearn. Additionally, Ola Ronke, creator of The Free Black Women’s Library, contributes an annotated bibliography of five books, inspired by Wormsley’s film.

Black Women as/and the Living Archive programs are organized around four themes: Space, Moving Image, Memory; Collective Memory; Pleasure Memory; and Mama Memory [& Care]. The afterlife of the project will exist as a publication that will serve as a repository for the conversations and intimate interactions between participants and the audience.

“Time is not linear, it stacks. Where we are right now…this isn’t a fold, it’s a glitch.”

– Children of NAN: Mothership

PROGRAMS

SPACE, MOVING IMAGE, MEMORY

A Pre-Screening Happy Hour w/ Alisha Wormsley & Li Harris
Instagram Live Event
Friday, May 1 at 5:01–6 pm
A Double Feature Screening of Alisha Wormsley’s film

Children of NAN: Mothership and Li Harris’s film Cry of the Third Eye: The Last Resort
Virtual Event, RSVP Here
Saturday, May 2 at 6–8 pm

COLLECTIVE MEMORY

A Reading by Ola Ronke, from N.K. Jemisin’s book How Long Til’ Black Futures Month
Instagram Event
Wednesday, May 27 beginning at 12 pm

A Newly Commissioned Performance by Autumn Knight inspired by Alisha Wormsley’s film Children on NAN: Mothership
Virtual Event, RSVP Here
Thursday, May 28 at 8:30-9:15 pm

PLEASURE MEMORY

A Performance using Embodied Sound, Storytelling, and Dance by Jasmine Hearn
Virtual Event, RSVP Here
Saturday, June 6 at 5-6:30 pm

MAMA MEMORY [& CARE]

An Informal Discussion with all Participants and Special Guests
Virtual Event, RSVP Here
June 13 at 6-8 pm

Learn More
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