Join us for this live reading of Imani Mason Jordan's Objects Who Testify.
Objects Who Testify is an excerpt of a longer (unfinished, ongoing) essay documenting ideas and research into object ontology, black testimony, transatlantic slavery, the production of evidence, and the limits of legal forums.
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Imani Mason Jordan (fka Robinson) is an interdisciplinary writer, artist, editor and facilitator. Their research-led practice combines live art and performance, oration, collaboration, poetry and critical theory, exploring themes of black geographies, the afterlives of transatlantic slavery, abolition, radical resistance and the politics of safety. Recent performances include ATLANTIC RAILTON: LIVE with Ain Bailey at Serpentine Pavilion (2021); TREAD/MILL-WIP at Somerset House Studios (2021) & WELCOME NOTE (Quantum Ghost) with Libita Sibungu (Gasworks, 2018; Spike Island, 2019; Dartington Hall/Sensing the Planet, 2021). Alongside Rabz Lansiquot, Imani is one half of the artistic and curatorial collaboration Languid Hands, who are Curatorial Fellows at Cubitt Artists, Angel, until Spring 2022, presenting work by RIP Germain, Ajamu X, Camara Taylor & Shenece Oretha. In 2021, Languid Hands curated the LIVE programme for Frieze London, presenting newly commissioned performances by Rebecca Bellantoni, Ebun Sodipo & Ashley Holmes.
In 2019, Languid Hands were commissioned by Jerwood Arts to make the experimental film Towards a Black Testimony: Prayer / Protest / Peace, which expands on some of the ideas in Objects Who Testify. The film has been installed at Jerwood Arts, London (2019), Stroom den Haag, The Hague (2019) & Slash, San Fransisco (2022) and presented in various film screenings. An edited collection of creative responses to this work will be published in 2022.
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More about Objects Who Testify, published by PSS on the occasion of Boundary + Gesture, curated by Taylor Le Melle at Wysing Arts Centre: pssss.co/books/objects-who-testify
More about Towards a Black Testimony: Prayer / Protest / Peace: In Conversation: Languid Hands w. Gail Lewis & Michael B Gillespie
