concrete jungle
a dub-movement-ritual-of-recovery
conceptualized & performed
by d’bi.young anitafrika
scored
by mohammed rowe
for jordon viera. rise in power. rest in peace
Concrete Jungle
Concrete Jungle by d'bi.young anitafrika is a movement-dub-lament exploring Ritual as Recovery in the unfinished project of Emancipation. The Ashanti Adinkra symbol of the Sankofa Bird signifies learning from the past; a bird is pictured facing forward while its head is turned backwards. Concrete Jungle peers into the past festering sore of the Transatlantic Slave Trade to recontextualize the present and reimagine the future. We watch as they sit, stand, walk, sleep, listen, crawl, look, gather and eventually speak; all while navigating reality in the midst of an unapologetic historical narrative and its devastating impact on the present. From enslavement to imprisonment. Closed borders. Mass incarceration. The Prison Industrial Complex. Camps and Cages. Vulnerability in the face of unspeakable atrocities. Concrete Jungle – to reference Christina Sharpe – is in the wake. As Afrofuturism meets Dub poetry and Dub theatre in a state of mythic witchery, Concrete Jungle defies linearity of time and space. Suspended in our psyche through a soundscape of electronic Afro-spiritual dubs scored by Mohammed Rowe, the piece daringly asks us to lament, to bury our dead and to be reborn, devoted to revolutionary Liberation!
d’bi.young anitafrika – Creator/Performer
d’bi.young anitafrika is a globally celebrated dub poet and Black queer feminist artist committed to creating work that ritualises acts of recovery from violence inflicted upon the earth. Hxr work is radical ceremony for Ancestors and community. dbiyounganitafrika.com | instagram.com/dbiyounganitafrika
Mohammed Rowe – Composer
Mohammed Rowe is a self-taught sound artist whose work includes elements of found, experimental and improved sound. His compositions often draw from the immediate environment; using an array of recording techniques in order to capture and sculpt his unique sonic creations. instagram.com/rowe.mohammed