afternow
Past Dates
| Dates | Location |
|---|---|
May 17 - May 18, 2024 |
Harlem Stage, New York, NY, USA |
May 20 - May 31, 2022 |
Rencontres Chorégraphiques Internationales de Seine-Saint-Denis, Bagnolet, France |
May 14, 2022 |
radio node, Bagnolet, France |
Aug 20 - Oct 08, 2021 |
Callies, Berlin, Germany |
Jul 09 - Jul 11, 2021 |
Les Rencontres à l’échelle, Marseille, France |
“…Nehanda is an opera that engages the idea of what opera of the future might be…”
– Africultures
“…to listen to a choreographer born in Zimbabwe tell us in music about her people’s struggle to resist occupation and oppression is a pleasure — bitter, but all the more motivating…”
– Africultures
nora chipaumire’s groundbreaking approach to movement goes beyond the formalistic; the renowned artist refers to dance as an “animist technology”—a means of discovering the sentience of the physical body. Drawing from decades of experience as a choreographer, as well as her own biography witnessing the independence of Rhodesia—now Zimbabwe—chipaumire seeks to move beyond a diagnosis of the colonial body, instead demanding a “prognosis,” or a path forward. chipaumire’s practice calls for justice, freedom, and new forms of world-making.
Marking the artist’s first solo exhibition, this presentation is provoked by a global pandemic and “the desire to occupy white cubes, black boxes, grand operas, open vistas, clubs, digital freeways, and stadiums.” Titled in acknowledgment of today’s most pressing question—“What now?”— afternow resists the obsolescence of live events, allowing the remnants of “underperforming works” to agitate liveness once again.
The centerpiece of the exhibition is soundshitsystem, a monumental speaker system designed by Ari Marcopoulos and Kara Walker, and constructed by Matt Jackson Studio. Frequently used by chipaumire in live performances for the triptych #PUNK 100%POP *N!GGA, the system is installed in afternow to play NEHANDA, a new radio opera written and produced by chipaumire during her residency at Callie’s in the winter of 2020-2021.
Nehanda, the protagonist of the radio opera, is a spirit venerated by the Shona people native to Zimbabwe and Central Mozambique. Nehanda inhabits women; in the late 19th century, Nehanda’s medium was Charwe Nyakasikana, a revolutionary leader who orchestrated the 1889 revolts against Cecil John Rhodes and the British colonization of Zimbabwe. Upon capture, she was tried for murder, convicted, and executed. The opera examines the historic crimes committed by the British in the illegally occupied territory, then named Southern Rhodesia.
Duration Video Arias, 5 minutes (looped)
NEHANDA Radio Opera, 8 audio episodes; each episode ranges from 8 to 50 minutes in length; the total running time is 3 hours 52 minutes
The full audio program loops approximately every 4 hours and 30 minutes.
Radio Opera
Premiere Date March 15 -30, 2021
Premiere Venue La Casa Encendida, Madrid, Spain (Broadcast)
afternow Installation
Premiere Date August 20 – October 8, 2021
Premiere Venue Callies, Berlin, Germany