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To move is to remember. Our history is held in our bodies, the pain, the grief, the joy, the journey. The Memorial Dance project has been brilliantly interpreted by Bristol based visual artist Bólárìnwá now visible across Bristol.

Billboards and street posters have gone up around Bristol marking Pan African Season which runs through BHM October until the end of Kwanzaa on January 1^st. 

The Decolonising Memory Project co led by Cleo Lake and Dr Jessica Moody began along with Kwesi Johnson, as a memorial dance and augmented reality APP but a more recent strand has involved a collaboration between dancers and musicians to create an original piece of accompanying music for the dance.  Enlisting Bristol music veterans Clive Smith of AS IT IS TV, as well as Stephen ‘Blaggy’ Blagrove (musical director) and Richard Davis both original members of the African drumming and dance company Ekome, founded in Bristol in 1976.

The music has been mixed and produced by dancehall and bass music experimental artist Yuseemi and will hopefully be released later in the year to coincide with Kwanzaa. 

However, having recently shot the music video, a decision to further expand the project to include a visual artist. As Cleo explains:

“The ambition of the project first and foremost was to create a memorial dance for Bristol and beyond that charted the African descent journey. Having learnt dances from places like Ghana and Togo that documented and archived the stories of their migration from Israel, Egypt, Mali and an eventual settle in Ghana etc, I often felt left out of the story given that the migration continued. In my family case the migration was to Jamaica and then I was born in Bristol UK.

So, the ambition was to create a dance that spoke to all of that and also served as a sort of a lament or tribute to our ancestors. At the same time it is also something that is open to everyone at all to learn and join in with. Afterall folk dances should evolve and talk about now as well as the past.”

Principal dancers Cleo Lake, Latisha Cesar and Penny-Marie collaborated with musicians to go through a process of making the music for the dance. Prior to that we had been using The Revolutionaries Kunte Kinte Dub, to perform the dance. However, once the music was made and a music video planned, it dawned on us that we might need a strong visual to further get the message across and attract even more interest. Around that time Cleo happened upon an exhibition by Bristol based artist Bólárìnwá at the then Artspace Lifespace run Vestibules. Impressed with that exhibition, we decided to commission Bola to create an original work which he has titled “A Pan African Descent Journey.”

Creative street advertising specialists BUILDHOLLYWOOD came alongside to collaborate on a street poster and billboard presence of Bola’s artwork which has been amazing. We are grateful for all of the efforts of our sponsors, funders, participants and contributing artists.

“The Pan African Descent Journey invites the public into a vibrant, living portrait of Africa seen through the eyes of its own people. For too long, our story has been framed by foreign gazes, but this work stands as a testament to the enduring spirit of the African renaissance. It is not a fleeting moment, but a continuous dawn—an ever-present, ever-flowing celebration of Africa’s greatness, unfolding in the now and reaching toward the future.

As an artist, seeing my work on a billboard not only amplifies my voice as an individual but, more importantly, reinforces my passion for using art as a medium to represent marginalised stories in society.” Bólárìnwá

We were very fortunate that both the Futures Festival and the Being Human Festival supported us to make the video, partly commission the artwork and stage an event on November 9^th at Trinity.

Have you seen them? Please take a photo and tag us.

Join us for a powerful two-part event blending dance, storytelling, music, and conversation.

Part one is an interactive dance workshop experience where you will
1) learn excerpts from an original memorial dance from an African-diasporic global perspective and
2) participate in a ‘dance reasoning circle’: be taken on a journey to tell your own story, contribute to a new devised choreography made in the moment talking to now.

Open to all ages and abilities. With music, and the option to take part in percussion and in an art workshop.

In the second part there will be a full performance of the memorial dance proceeded by the premiere of the new accompanying music video, followed by a roundtable discussion with members of the project team, reflecting on the project.

The event closes with a DJ set.

Free to attend. Limited spaces so please book in advance HERE. Refreshments provided.
This event is open to anyone. Under 12s should be accompanied by an adult. Spaces are limited, so please book in advance.

Please note that this event considers themes of race and enslavement.

Join us for a dance class led by Akeim Toussaint Buck which will draw on his explorations of Caribbean and Contemporary Dance elements including: Kumina, Dinkimini, Undulations, Skanking and the richness of Improvisation. Come with an open mind to move your body and feed your soul!

Saturday 1 February, 2pm-3pm (doors open 1:45pm, please arrive on time)

Venue: G12, Victoria Rooms, University of Bristol, 88 Queens Rd, Clifton, Bristol BS8 1SA

Open to everyone with some dance experience. Places are free but limited so please book early.

About Akeim Toussaint

Akeim Toussaint Buck is a performer and maker, born in Jamaica and raised in England. After graduating from the Northern School of Contemporary Dance in 2014, Akeim has been immersed in many cross-disciplinary projects working with a range of artists and communities from around the world. His focus as a maker and collaborator is to combine expressive skills such as: dance, poetry, beat-box, singing and acting through performance and storytelling that reach beyond existing dance audiences. His work aims to challenge, enlighten and entertain the spectator or participant. Audiences are not just observers; they are implicit in the experience. Akeim’s work reflects on our reality, looking at ongoing socio-political situations with a humanitarian intention.

toussainttomove.com

One year after the acquittal of the Colston Four – the free, new augmented reality (AR) mobile app has launched in the city to offer the public an opportunity to take a remarkable AR immersive trail for a closer, interactive look at it’s links to the transatlantic slave trade, it’s effect on communities within the city and the expansion of Britain’s colonial rule.

Decolonising Memory is an interactive immersive experience informed by the citizens of Bristol. App users are taken on a journey through the streets of Bristol to explore through AR a reimagined cityscape responding to colonisation through new works of 3D visual art, film, music, spoken word, movement and storytelling. 

Decolonising Memory allows users to see and interact with digital content using the AR application as if they were physically present through the lens of their smartphone. People can simply download the app directly on the phone and head to key locations or ‘sites of memory’ in the city to engage and interact with compelling content revealing a colonial history told from an African-centred perspective. 

The App takes a bold step towards imagining a decolonised city and re-examining several contentious locations and landmarks in Bristol, like the Colston statue and Pero’s Bridge. The immersive experience was designed by The Cultural Assembly in collaboration with former Lord Mayor Cleo Lake, Prof Jessica Moody from the University of Bristol and Bristol Citizens Researching Together. 

Over the course of the last year, a series of events and workshops across the city were designed to facilitate a dialogue of atonement, reconciliation and learning. Led by local experts and community leaders, the events provided an opportunity for local artists, activists and people to come together to engage with these issues in a safe and supportive environment.

Kwesi Johnson said, “This is purpose-driven work, where AR-extended reality and creative technology can present a different view of the city. It became a response to the recent events in Bristol that had been brewing for many years and channels that response into something that everyone can access, and that can make a real impact‘.

Whether you are a lifelong resident or a first-time visitor to Bristol, Decolonising Memory is a must-see for anyone interested in discovering more about Bristol’s heritage from a different perspective. It explores hidden stories within the city’s landscape, inspiring those who take the journey, to engage with the past and present in a more meaningful way.

”We hope the reaction to Decolonising Memory will be a positive one. The immersive journey is an opportunity for the city to promote understanding and equity, through conversation. People can connect, and be resilient as they stand together exploring the streets of Bristol with a new perspective.”

Find out more

Join us at the Bristol Beacon, this Saturday 13th August to mark Emancipation Day (1st August). Celebrations will begin at 12 midday and go on until 8pm. There will be lots of great activities including poetry and music, food, fashion and stories! The event is being run as part of the ‘Bridging Histories’ project and members of the Decolonising Memory team will be there to run a special workshop at 6pm where you can learn our memorial dance. We will also be performing the dance here to mark this event.

More information is available on the Bristol Beacon’s website:

https://bristolbeacon.org/whats-on/emancipation-day-celebration/

Join members of the Decolonising Memory team at the community launch of The World Re-Imagined project and art event series at St. Paul’s Learning Centre, 12-3pm where we will be teaching the dance! Come along for the workshop and learn the memorial folk dance with us.

The World-Reimagined is a creative project looking at transforming understanding of the Transatlantic Trade in Enslaved Africans and its impact. The even on Saturday launches a trail of globes around the city. There will be food, drumming and language sessions and it’s free and open to all.

Come along and learn the dance! There will be further opportunities to learn the dance in the next few weeks building to a mass dance performance on Tuesday 23rd August to mark UNESCO Slavery Remembrance Day. Watch this space for more information!

Sign up for The World Re-Imagined launch HERE