SPEECH FOR A MELTING STATUE (2023, 10’)

synopsis

In June 2020, thousands of people took to the streets in Brussels to make a fist against police brutality and institutional racism in solidarity with Black Lives Matter. For a moment, it seemed that some demonstrators would take down the statue of colonial king Leopold II in a nearby square. For now the sculpture is still standing, but an optimistic poet already prepares her speech for the day it will be removed.

Archival images of colonial monuments that arrive in a museum in Kinshasa, RDC are paired with a ceremonial text by poet Marie Paule Mugeni. The voice-over presents the official removal of a Brussel’s colonial statue as if scheduled for the very next day. However, in opposition to Kinshasa, there are no concrete plans for the statues’ takedown up to now.

credits

a film by Collectif Faire-part narrated by Marie Paul Mugeni with words by Marie Paul Mugeni, Rob Jacobs, Benjamine Laini Lusalusa camera & sound recording by Anne Reijniers, Paul Shemisi, Mijean Rochus with archival images retrieved by José Batakele edited by Rob Jacobs & Anne Reijniers initial idea by Nizar Saleh, redirected by Rob Jacobs sound preparation by Aïda Merghoub sound mix by Aiko Devriendt colours by Thijs Paijmans titles by Rob Jacobs supported by The city of Brussels, Contrat de Quartier Durable de la commune d’Ixelles, VGC, Musée Nationale de la RDC, copyright Collectif Faire-part 2023