Intervention: Indigo Laura Anderson Barbata

Описание: Artist Laura Anderson Barbata, in collaboration with the Brooklyn Jumbies, Chris Walker and Jarana Beat, presented Intervention: Indigo on Sunday, September 13, 2015 in Bushwick, Brooklyn. The work combines procession, protest, performance, music and dance.
Intervention: Indigo
Barbata, the Brooklyn Jumbies, Chris Walker and Jarana Beat bring to New York a worldwide practice to remind viewers of the global resonance of the crisis impacting the lives of people of color living in this country. There is an obligation for a public call to action – one that draws attention to the urgent need to elevate and change the values and practices of the police and the systems that support these views.

Indigo is one of the oldest natural plant based dyes, used all over the world and ritually embedded with symbolism and spirituality; power and nobility. A tradition of the Dogon people- cloths are dipped in dye vats repeatedly over a period of days or weeks, imbuing rich color. It’s best known for its use in denim. Barbata employs textiles hand woven and dyed in Burkina Faso, Guatemala and the United States. The color historically represents absolute truth, wisdom, justice, and responsibility.

The traditional function of the Moko Jumbie stilt dancers (portrayed by the Brooklyn Jumbies) is to serve and protect their communities. In Western Africa, Moko Jumbie is a spirit who watches over a village, and due to it’s towering height, is able to foresee danger and evil. The Moko Jumbie is traditionally called in to cleanse and ward off evil spirits that have brought with them disease and misfortune to a village. On the other side of the Atlantic, in Oaxaca, Mexico, the Zancudos (stilt dancers) perform annually to call upon the power of their saints to receive protection, blessings, and miracles.

Music and character design was inspired by the Danza de los Diablos (portrayed by Jarana Beat) and used to address the use (and misuse) of the color blue. In the African-Mexican coast of Guerrero, the danza de los diablos is performed to remember all African descendants and to claim their place in society. It is a dance of resistance and rebellion against discrimination, exclusion, and segregation.
The Rolling Calf (portrayed by Chris Walker) is a mythical character represented in Jamaican duppy ‘tory (ghost stories). There are many origin narratives including the untimely death of a runaway slave boy whose restless spirit now roams. Chris Walker´s portrayal presents the mythical as purposeful., He reimagines what is possible for a black body attempting to find liberation and to create a better space in this moment and in this land. It is a way to make and claim space, empowered by the collective and shared moment of the Intervention.