𝗔𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗠𝗼(𝘃𝗲)𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 – 𝗢𝗻𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗘𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻
𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘆 𝗢𝗸𝗵𝗶𝗼𝗴𝗯𝗲 𝗢𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗯𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗸𝘀 𝗢𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗺𝗶𝗻

This series looks into creating narratives of what it means to be Black and African today, as a collective practice. As part of a wider project (TAC - http://theartconcept.org/), Omonblanks facilitates and documents multifaceted and collaborative oral histories of lived experiences of Black and African people on the continent and in the diaspora. This chapter, taking place in the context of COLLECTIVE PRACTICES – focuses on the current pandemic moment. Previously planned as a weekend gathering of conversations, screenings, exhibition, music and food - the project now takes shape in the digital space.

With their long term conversation and archiving initiative, one of TAC’s aims is to expand narratives of African and Black identities, coming out of the multiplicities of African and Black communities. To the present day, widely available knowledge and attitudes about African people are so entangled with stereotypes, often shaped and told from outside of the continent, that they frequently remain confused or clichéd, even for the protagonists themselves. The overall documenting and archiving project is both a critical intervention, as well as a recapture and return of ownership of narrative, and an increase in volume, diversity and visibility of stories told by Black and African people of various backgrounds.


𝘞𝘩𝘰 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵? 𝘞𝘩𝘰 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘯’𝘵? 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘺? 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘹𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘶𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘦, 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘺. 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩? 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵? 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘤𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘢 𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘴? 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵? 𝘞𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴? 𝘞𝘩𝘰 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘦? 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵? 𝘞𝘩𝘰 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘦? 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘵? 𝘞𝘩𝘰 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳? 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦, 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘴? (..)

𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘴𝘬 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘐 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘤𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘢 𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳, 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢 𝘯𝘦𝘶𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘐𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘉𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬. 𝘏𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺, 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘴 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘳 ‘𝘖𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳,’ 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘈𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘣𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘵𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘣𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵. (𝘎𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘢 𝘒𝘪𝘭𝘰𝘮𝘣𝘢: 𝘗𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘔𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴: 25, 26, 2019)


In collaboration with COLLECTIVE PRACTICES, Omonblanks will document conversations with people from the Black and African communities living in Berlin, and make connections between Berlin and Accra/Lagos. And while not being able to create a physical gathering at ACUD, the project will involve many different protagonists into online conversations, discussions and performances – that will all form part of the multifaceted narratives and the growing archive by TAC of Black and African perspectives.

If you are interested to take part in a conversation, you can reach out to Omonblanks directly: omonblanks@gmail.com