The C3A of Córdoba incorporates a work by the artist John Akomfrah to the exhibition ‘Ecologies of peace’CORDOVA
The exhibition Ecologies of peace has incorporated a new piece. Is about Transfigured Night (2013) by artist John Akomfrah, a video installation of the TBA21 Collection which delves into the struggles and complexities of several African nations in their search for independence from colonial rule after the Second World War, and which can be seen in the Black Box space of theC3A Center for Contemporary Creation of Andalusia in Cordova.
The work, inspired in Verklärte Night, the most famous eponymous orchestral piece of late Romanticism, composed in 1899 by the Austro-American Arnold Schoenberg, sails through euphoria and the aftermath of decolonization, using music to symbolize states of celebration and lethargy.
Reflecting the five-part structure of Schoenberg’s composition, Transfigured Night is a twenty-six-minute piece that occupies two screens and reflects on the realities that arise after leaving injustice behind, When fleeting promises turn into disappointments. Since the late 1950s and throughout the 1960s, the new African leaders stood on a podium during the night of the day when independence was proclaimed, to make a confession and a promise. In most cases, they confessed to having inherited a state apparatus that did not work well and promised to redeem (love) the citizens. With cheers and applause, Citizens swore unconditionally their loyalty and love to this “imperfect entity.”thus transforming the night of colonial slavery into a dawn of postcolonial freedom.
The film explores this intricate interplay between hope and the disillusionment resulting from the decolonization processes, examining the lasting effects of newly inaugurated national sovereignty through the perspective of contemporary figures and archival images. From the festive independence celebrations in several African countries until the state visit of the first president of the Ivory Coast, Félix Houphouët-Boigny, to the United States, creates a genealogical narrative that highlights the unfulfilled promises of freedom.
In transfigured night Akomfrah, born in Ghana and based in London, criticizes and reflects on the multiple transformations of these states, which he calls “narcoleptic entities”, since they seem lively during celebrations but become inert when faced with the responsibility of providing crucial services such as health, education or security.
Taller La Luna continues its rhythm
Around this work, the workshop aimed at students will be held on September 19 The Moon Keeps peace/La Luna follow your rhythm in the same Black Box. This invites you to a unique viewing and discussion experience around Transfigured Night, offering in addition to the screening of the audiovisual piece, a debate by María Ángeles Alaminos Hervás, doctor in International Relations and specialist in African Studies, coordinated by the Association Anthropology Network (ASANRed) of the University of Granada.
This discussion forum proposes a space for the exchange of opinions and in-depth analysis on the impact of colonialism and unfulfilled promises, seeking create a link between history and current postcolonial reality. The debate will feature the collaboration of students from the Degree in International Relations at the Loyola University of Córdoba.
The activity is included in the exhibition mediation program Ecologies of peaceand it is free with prior registration in the TBA21 Eventbrite account in Córdoba. Ecologies of peace It is the third exhibition of the TBA21 Foundation and the C3A, financed by the City Council of Córdoba with 450,000 euros that, with more than 50 works and six commissions, proposes spaces for dialogue and social justice in a global context marked by wars and conflicts of vast magnitude. dimensions.
