PHASE II:
Celestial Space: A Meditation On Liberation Practices
For NITE and Noord Nederlands Toneel I created Celestial Space: A Meditation On Liberation Practices. A digital space focused on Black women. Within the space I created different rooms for reflection and recognition. Together with director Ashley Rottjers I created short films of Black women depiction practices that connect them to their deepest core and to each other: pole dancing, roping, braiding hair and dancing. Gerda Havertong read texts written by Black writers such as Audre Lorde and bell hooks providing context and weaving the rooms together.
viewing of full videos on request
PHASE I
The first phase of ‘Celestial Space’ was one of research. Together with designer Sheray Rozenstein we researched how people of color experience public spaces and interviewed people in Rotterdam and New York about where they feel safe, feel unsafe and what aspects of a space makes them feel either safe or unsafe. We aimed to create a space at the crossroads of visual art, architecture, philosophy and empirical research to awaken a connection to your core self and others to create a sense of much needed collective intimacy and vulnerability.
I came to the conclusion that there are hardly any public safe spaces in The Netherlands that give us -Black women - the opportunity to reflect, focus inward and dig deep - so we decided to create one ourselves.
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A space where people can go and experience what it means to feel so safe that you are able to be exactly who you are/want to be and experience inner peace. We want to create this feeling of connecting to yourself and others to create a sense of much needed collective intimacy and vulnerability.
The result of the research phase is a series of interviews which we presented on Instagram. See below.
