31st May - 13th July 2024
Anthropophonia
Theresa Weber + Nathanael Amadou Kliebhan
Welcome to Anthropophonia.
Set on the bed of the aquatic deep, this cosmic entanglement addresses mythologies and sonic storytelling surrounding the Atlantic Ocean that are rooted in cultures of the African diaspora. Mythical creatures collide with sonic dark matter and Drexciyan theory to interrogate this vast space that can neither be fully suppressed or understood. As the site of the source of all life, one discovers here beauty and healing in the power of the unknown.
Anthropophony consists of the Greek ‘Anthropos’ - meaning human, and ‘phoni’ - meaning voice, ultimately suggestive of all sound produced by humans. Amadou Kliebhan’s expansive soundscape undulates and ricochets around healing frequencies as it harnesses the rich traditions of sonic scholarship across the Black Atlantic, weaving together experiments in compositional improvisation and aural world-building. These waves envelop and dance through a stalactital, kelp-like
network of blue textile - tied and fanned reminiscently of Caribbean Carnival celebrations.
Weber’s mythological hybrid figures appear in encounters with body marks, fake nails, pearls and collected shells from Jamaica, which can be understood as marks of intersectionality and social transformation. These tablets act as relics excavated from an aquatic ancient past; living organisms, disrupting linear historical timelines through imagined storytelling and speculative futures.
This site of sonic and performative ritual seeks to dismantle colonial spatial formations through exploring the fluidity and ongoing transformation of the artists’ experience as Afro-German artists. Permeable and plasmic, Anthropophonia is a meditation on myth and memory that extends itself far below and beyond where we stand today.