'What They Do Next...'

This short film programme stems from JGPACA's curatorial project which was included as part of a wider archive symposium held at Tate Modern in late May 2024. This screening replicates part of this installation and will act as a springboard to ask wider questions about how the work of African and African diasporic artists is curated and presented in institutional cultural settings. We will also critically explore the contested politics of representation within galleries and museums who acknowledge their foundation in the legacies of slavery.

Programme

Statues Also Die (1953) | Alain Resnais, Chris Marker, and Ghislain Cloquet | 30'

Commissioned by the association Présence Africaine in 1950, Statues Also Die (French: Les statues meurent aussi) is a French essay film directed by Alain Resnais, Chris Marker, and Ghislain Cloquet about historical African art and the effects colonialism has had on how it is perceived. The film was censored in France for eight years because of its anti-colonial perspective.

You Hide Me (1970) | Nii Kwate Owoo | 17'

In 1970 Ghanaian filmmaker Nii Kwate Owoo gained access to the British Museum to make this short film about the valuable African artefacts held there and make his case for their restitution.

Statues Hardly Ever Smile (1971) | Stan Lathan | 19'

Capturing the hypnotic wonder of a group of children in the process of creating art at the Brooklyn Museum, Stan Lathan’s “Statues Hardly Ever Smile” documents art as a tool for self-discovery and the essence of Black creativity. The film was edited by Kathleen Collins and shot by St. Clair Bourne.

Rage and Desire (1991) | Ruppert Gabriel | 17'

“My reality is not what is presented as reality in Western photographs. I try to make concepts of reality ambiguous. I try to open them to reinterpretation by bringing out the spiritual dimension. Yoruba priests and artists call this the technique of ecstasy. I translate my rage and desire into new images.”
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A tribute to Nigerian-born photographer, Rotimi Fani-Kayode, who is included in the Tate’s collection. The film examines how Fani-Kayode’s work was informed by his experience as an “outsider”. Screened as part of the OUT series on Channel 4 1992, this short focuses on the life and work of the late gay photographer in his own words. It explores his various concerns and influences and their appearance in a number of his works, such as power and its abuses; the sale of African culture to the West; Nigerian Yoruba art, and 'techniques of ecstasy'.

Curated by Phoebe Beckett Chingono, Damilola Lemomu and benjin.

An introduction to the shorts will take place prior to the screening with JGPACA staff Phoebe, Damilola and benjin.