Grada Kilomba

The Desire Project, 2016

'The Desire Project' (2015 -16) is composed of a three act video installation, with environment, and printed impressions, representing three chronological moments – 'While I Walk', 'While I Speak' and 'While I Write'. In this piece, Grada Kilomba uses the written word as the only visual element, accompanied by a rhythmical drumming as a metaphorical voice, indicating the emergence of a speaker who has been historically silenced by colonial narratives. Before entering the video installation, one passes a shrine dedicated to the ancestor Escrava Anastácia, whose mouth has been sealed. Kilomba plays with the concept of memory, “as something we cannot simply forget” and raises the questions of ‘who can speak’ and ‘what can we speak about’ before entering the visual space.The work was commissioned for the 32nd Bienal de São Paulo – Incerteza viva [Live Uncertainty].