Many Black Moons Ago, To Go…

Time as it is Queer.

Blackness as it is Queer.

What comes next after the end of the world?

A digital exhibition programme of Afrofuturist films and writings in response to the re/imagining of Black alternative future(s). Curated by Scottish-Zimbabwean artist, researcher, and curator Natasha Thembiso Ruwona. Sign up to receive a link to access the exhibition website during the festival dates, 5th to 18th October.

Short films available as part of the exhibition across the 2 weeks include NEGRUM3 (2018) by Diego Paulino, Reifying Desire 5 (2012) by Jacolby Satterwhite, and Time Travel Experiments Pt. 2 (2017) by Black Quantum Futurism. Born in Flames (1983), depicting a future where a socialist government gains power and a group of women decides to organize and rebel, will be available to view as part of the exhibition on our Vimeo on Demand channel 12th to 13th October. Please note all films will screen with English language captions. Further access information will be available on the film’s Vimeo on Demand pages.

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There will be artists’ responses to the programme by Sequoia Barnes and Naomi Gessesse.

Sequoia Barnes’ work is predominately centered around making processes, rituals, and modes of fashioning. Trained in semiotics, she deploys research through praxis often in her artistic explorations of black diasporic symbolisms, storytelling as performance, and positioning the creative process as a performance/ritual. Her scholarly work currently explores the design techniques and aesthetic semiotics of late fashion designer, Patrick Kelly. Her most recent artistic works include her artist responses to Senga Nengudi (Fruitmarket Gallery) and Nick Cave (Tramway) with performative works entitled Sew Me A Quilt. Tell You A Story. (2019) and The Burden I Bear Is Heavy (2019), respectively.

Naomi Gessesse is a movie watcher and Aries sun from Glasgow. They have written for several publications and wrote an undergraduate thesis on the politics of space at the lgbtqia+ film festival. Naomi now works for Berwick Film And Media Arts Festival while continuing to write.

A reading group led by Martha Williams on Sunday 18 October will conclude the series. Click here to book a free ticket to the reading group event, Call & Reponse. The event will have BSL interpretation, live captioning, and live audio description. The films in the exhibition all have English language captions.

Born in Flames is preserved by Anthology Film Archives with restoration funding from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and The Film Foundation. Distributed by Cinenova.