Omar Berrada
Omar Berrada – Defend the Dead (on NourbeSe Philip’s Zong!)
Omar Berrada offers a meditation on poetry when it holds on to the imperative of “defending the dead,” among the traumas of history and the silences of archives. He does so via recordings of performances by NourbeSe Philip, sampled with the help of Ambrose Bye.
“Zong! not only deals with an historical event (i.e. the massacre of enslaved Africans on board the Zong in 1784), but also speaks to contemporary times, in the sense that we are all contaminated by that event. Today’s speculative financing, for instance, has its roots in the trade in Africans… ” – M. NourbeSe Philip
Berrada is a writer and translator and the director of the Dar al-Ma’mûn library and residency in Marrakech. He is currently living in Brooklyn, and is at work on a text and performance collaboration with Caribbean poet NourbeSe Philip, provisionally titled “Documents from Black Morocco”.
Sunday 15 November Runnings
Its the final day of the Pop-up at the Performa Hub in New York. Join us at 47 Walker street at 3pm when Nontsikelelo Mutiti kicks off with a talk on women in self-publishing featuring Yolanda Sangwena (Afripop Magazine), Amy Sall (SUNU Journal), Ali Rosa–Salas (Top Rank Magazine) and Jessica Lynne (Arts.black). Next up, Africa is a Country presents Seeing voices: Reflections on African photographic portraiture, a discussion on photography with Zachary Rosen and friends. Then poet and choreographer Harmony …
Category: Pass Blog
Tags: Africa is a Country, Harmony Holiday, Nontsikelelo Mutiti, Omar Berrada
Leave a comment
PASS in NY: Omar Berrada with Ambrose Bye
Writer and translator Omar Berrada offers a meditation on poetry when it holds on to the imperative of “defending the dead,” among the traumas of history and the silences of archives. He does so via recordings of performances by NourbeSe Philip, sampled with the help of Ambrose Bye (Fast Speaking Music). “Zong! not only deals with an historical event (i.e. the massacre of enslaved Africans on board the Zong in 1784), but also speaks to contemporary times, in the sense that …