Performance with Patricia Kaersenhout
This performance makes a case for relationality of movements and continuity of time. It associates the Dahomey Women warriors who were active along the shores of the African West Coast in the 18th and 19th century, with the US based Black Panther Movement of the 1970s that Angela Davis was affiliated with and the here and now, Kaersenhout herself and the audience in their act of embroidering, while all of them are representing different levels of violence. Embroidering “innocent” images on white fabric was a popular pastime for white colonial women, in sharp contrast to the daily lived experiences of Black women. Kaersenhout dramatically interweaves innocence and violence.
