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an idea – a proposition – made possible by an assembly of people with the love and desire to make sound together.
nherera means without lineage! No art school! No traditions! Getting by on one’s wit.
A sound “off” the beaten path — a sound that holds no promises beyond this moment together — familiar yet unfamiliar.
The joy of making with others – unorthodox worldviews – fueled by the fatigue of poverty and extractive nature of contemporary cultures — nora chipaumire and friends refuse the “norm”.
Working when it is possible, dreaming when it is not.
nora chipaumire – vocals
Othnell “Mangoma” Moyo- drums and vocals
Fatima Katiji – percussion and vocals
Alfred Mehnert – percussion
Gilbert Zvamaida – guitar
Dave Gagliardi – guitar
McIntosh “SoKo” Jerahuni – mbira and vocals
We are incredibly grateful to Jasmine al Garafi for making this release possible.
Recorded, mixed and mastered by Franz Schütte and Sasa Strauß at Nadel Eins Studio Berlin in 2021/2022
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.
nora chipaumire was born in 1965 in Mutare, Zimbabwe.
NEHANDA (2021) is composed of 8 episodes. The total running time is 3 hours 51 minutes. Audio treatment by Franz Schütte, with Nadel Eins Studio Berlin.
A mountainous speaker installation, soundshitsystem, celebrates the legacy of sound systems in Jamaican culture. It was designed by chipaumire in collaboration with Ari Marcopoulos and Kara Walker, and constructed by Matt Jackson Studio. Callie’s dub nights invite visitors to interact with and respond to the installation, facilitating the kind of collective experience that is essential to chipaumire’s practice. For each of the six dub nights, chipaumire has collaborated with a different Berlin-based sound artist.
Between 19 August 2021 and 7th of October 2021 the dub nights occured at Callie’s Berlin
