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ęmí: freedomsong (2025) Rohan Ayinde and Tayo Rapoport
Made in collaboration with curator Zarina Rossheart, this moving work debuted at 1-54 London where visitors were immersed in a multi-sensory installation in defiance of the genocide in Gaza and other oppressions around the world.
The duo has been inspired by the Yoruba concept of ‘ęmí’ (the breath that animates life) as well as by bell hook’s ‘All About Love’ and Camille Sapara Barton’s ‘Tending Grief’ to build on the past and present of revolutionary song. A sonic ritual led by Barton and anaiis alongside vocalists Tawiah, douniah, Bint Mbareh, Amina Gichinga and Roxanne Tataei forms a grounding of liberating emotions upon which movement work by Yewande YoYo Odunubi – shot on the market streets of Brixton – is layered with powerful contributions from Helen Cammock, Asmaa Jama, Jasleen Kaur, Eve Stainton and Alberta Whittle.
I wrote and performed the poem text, My grief is an eternal garden, for the piece.
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Credits:
ęmí: freedomsong by Rohan Ayinde and Tayo Rapoport
Curated by Zarina Rossheart for All About Love
Commissioned by BUILDHOLLYWOOD
Produced in partnership with Art Practice