Exhibition
Community
Engagement
Listen to Sharifa B.’s interview with KYW News Radio
As the exhibition opening night community-participatory practice,
Sharifa B. pours libations in honor of the ancestors and wata spirits.
Pouring Libations
Exhibition Opening w/ Sharifa B. & Community
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(0:00) We’re gonna go down, all of us down, as a demonstration of respect and as a sign of unity, you know what I mean? And the gag is, we’re getting closer to the ground, right? So there’s this concept that we really want to be present with the ground, the energy of the ground. From the ground we come, from the ground we shall return. I say to all the way.
(0:20) Oh, y’afokontu di apontsa, asafi ansa, omunyamisa, aboretsoesa, benkununipansa, suyedjoesa, suditsu ketchulumakuetsa, ditsu kokoesa, ofamesa, fopanesa, okokoesa… Nanaseana Abenaetsa, Bram Abenaetsa, Seana Dirtyetsa…
(0:43) And so to all of the ancestors that are here with us, this is the time that you can call out to family and loved ones, the names that you know. To my father, Robert Alfonzo Bryan… Martha Felther. Uh-huh, ensayoe. Bisawela Maria, Tio Joe, Uncle Archie… Dita…
(1:06) To my fathers, to my grandfathers, to my great grandparents, to my Uncle Joe, to my Papa Pips, to my Uncle Joe, to my brother Andre Thomas… to Magdalado, to Papa Bob, to Mama Eleanor, to Papa Pips, to cousin Dita, yo.
(1:26) Baba Rachel, Richard… to all of the ancestors here, to the collective ancestors, to all of… to the new one, Assata… Assata Shakur, Nancy… to all of the ones that are the Egungun, the ones that are the African, the Pan-Africanist, the ones that are here for the liberation of Black people, the ones that are the women—ha! The women’s are the feet that we stand up on even for us to be here, ha!
(1:49) All of the grandmothers that the names that we have forgotten. To all of the mothers the names that we have forgotten. To all of the daughters the names that we have forgotten. To all of the sisters the names that we have forgotten. To all of the… the nieces and the… the friends and the… the names that we have forgotten.
(2:05) Oh, I give thanks to… Oshun… Hey! Nana Ya Mercy ensa, give thanks to Nana Tikede, I give thanks to Moshi, I give thanks to Assata, I give thanks to Ochi-Yao, I give thanks to Nana Esi, I give thanks to Daddy Kofi, I give thanks to Akonadi, I give thanks to… Okwesi Beliyanku, I give thanks to Bofo Tiga, I give thanks to… Lucero Mundo, I give thanks to Mama Kalunga, I give thanks to Mama Cholawenge, I give thanks to… Tiempo Lakiyera, I give thanks to… Dulce Pina, I give thanks to… Kobayenda, I give thanks to… Ensalabanda, I give thanks to… Siete Rayos, I give thanks to… to Ashu Dara, I give thanks to… Ogun, I give thanks to Ossain, I give thanks to Oshun… Osun, I give thanks to Orunmila…
(2:53) I give thanks to Yemoja, I give thanks to Aje Olokun, I give thanks to Oshun, I give thanks to Babalu Aye, I give thanks to Shango, I give thanks to Obatalá, I give thanks to… Ibeji, I give thanks to Egbe, I give thanks to… what… I give thanks to… Orisha Oba, Orisha Oko. I give thanks to Papa Legba, I give thanks to Undula Puerta, I give thanks to Undula Dantu, I give thanks to… Damballa, I give thanks to… Lisa Mawe, I give thanks to Gede, I give thanks to Bosu, I give thanks to all of the spirits of this world that continue to guide us and teach us and protect us and provide for us.
(3:37) Here we are gathered today in the spirit of celebration. We are gathered today in the spirit of awe. We are gathered today in the spirit of… oh, Charlie… in the spirit of being together, man. In the spirit that we can be anywhere, but we are here.
(3:55) I ask that you bless, make this exhibition… ha! Touch the people in a way that my words can’t touch. Touch the people in a way that the… that the pictures can’t touch. Touch the people in a way that the even the retreat itself can’t touch. May this experience be something that inspires them, that reminds them, that pinpoints inside of them the things that they have forgotten.
(4:17) Ha! Let them be reminded that they are not alone. That the mothers of the mothers of the mothers of the mothers, and the daughters of the daughters that we stand on… we continue to stand on—it is a water-y order. Without the water we are nothing. Without the water we have no earth. Without the water we have no food. Without the water we have no… drinks. Ha! Without the water we have no body. Hey!
(4:39) May we always be remembered, may we always be remembered of ourselves. May we always be not afraid to look in the mirror at the thing called Mirrored Reflections. Ha! May we always see ourselves in our sister’s faces. May we always see ourselves in our sister’s prayers. May we always see ourselves in our grandmother’s song. May we always see ourselves in our mother’s prayer. May we always see ourselves in the support of each other.
(5:02) May we always see ourselves in Mama Oshun and Mama Cholawenge’s mirror in their face. May we never turn away from ourselves. May we always be inspired to be our best self. May we always be supported in being our best self. Ha! May we not be afraid to put the thing down. May we not be afraid to sit there and let the thing… Oh, Charlie. Ha! Hmm! Hmm!
(5:30) To you I am for always grateful. To you I am forever grateful. To you I say without you I am nothing. As you build me up, I build you up. As I pour libations for you, you too are pouring libations for me in the heavens. Hey, Charlie. As we give you life, you too are giving us life here on earth. Hmm. As we remember you, we are too never forgotten.
(5:54) And so may this exhibition be something and… hmm. May you continue to do what you do with it. Because I’m not… I don’t know what’s going to happen. So, I give thanks to you to all of you, I say Ache, Ache, Ache, Ache, Ache, Ache, Ache. I say Medaase, Medaase, Medaase. I say Ache, Ache, Acheyo! I say Amen, Amen, Amin. Aibo-bo!
(6:24) [Crowd cheering] The knees… the knees ain’t what they used to be, huh? [Laughter]
Creative Writing
& The Art of
Storytelling
Workshop
Asia Donn’ve & Brittany Battle
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(0:00) My name is Brittany. And my name is Asia. And we just hosted the Mirrored Reflections creative writing workshop. I thought the workshop was amazing to have all these beautiful Black women here to look at the space and to bring the energy of sisterhood, community, and connection.
(0:21) My favorite part was just us sitting down and really just digging into the emotions and how the pictures made us feel. Just going around in a circle and sharing our experience, our feelings, getting creative, writing poetry
(0:38) I am glad that we were able to create a space where the women that attended felt vulnerable to share their story, to actually create for the first time. Just digging into the creative expression and how writing actually also helps us heal.
(0:56) Writing is essential. To be able to just jot down any type of emotion that you’ve been holding onto—whether it’s joy, sadness, trauma—just to be able to get all that down on paper.
(1:09) Sharifa talked about how she creates the space for spirit to flow through and I really felt it was uh… I could relate to that how we host our workshops—our creative writing workshops. We, you know, we create the space for people to channel, to, you know, to release, to have creative expression.
(1:28) To do that in this space, it just… it felt really good. So I’m really thankful to Sharifa for even asking us to do it.
Writers Asia Donn’ve and Brittany Battle facilitated a creative writing workshop inspired by the Mirrored Reflections exhibition. Participants explored connection between image, emotion, and imagination.
In the spirit of community somatic healing, Iya Funlayo E. Wood, PhD guides participants through a sacred ritual at the exhibition.
Ori Rejuvenation
Ritual
w/ Iya Funlayo E. Wood, PhD
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(0:00) Peace and blessings. It’s your favorite scholar priestess Iya Funlayo, PhD, and I am honored to have provided an Ori ritual for my sister Sharifa B.’s Mirrored Reflections exhibition.
(0:19) Ori is each human being’s seat of consciousness and conscience, the personal divinity that we each came to the earth with.
(0:30) Ifa theology tells us that our Ori is the only divinity that accompanies us through life without ever turning back. Our ancestors have other descendants to attend to, our divinities have other devotees to attend to, but Ori, our own personal divinity, stays with us at all times.
(0:56) And so the ritual that we did was to align and refresh our Ori, which sits in our head primarily, but a seat of Ori is also found in our stomach as well as our feet and other points on the body.
(1:15) We applied shea butter, cotton, and other sacred elements to our heads and sat in meditation and prayer for a time as we aligned ourselves.
(1:26) It was a blessed and wonderful time and I am honored to have presented it.
Liberation Petitions
& River Ritual
Exhibition Closing w/ Sharifa B. & Community
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(0:00) [Rhythmic singing and chanting: Gaminacholo, Gaminanida]
(0:20) [Rhythmic singing and chanting continues: Gaminacholo, Gaminanida]
(0:40) [Chanting ends] Make the work worthwhile, make the work worthwhile, make the work fast! Hey! We offer you, we offer the here-and-now to you, we offer the… the gels and the forms of binding that we wrote.
(0:55) Ha! We come to you, ha! To open the paths. I come to you in the face of the known. I come to you in the understanding of the power that you are and the power that you have.
(1:06) May we not be in the same place twice. May we begin to open ourselves up today to receive the good things in life. May our lives be sweeten. May the paths be sweeten. May the relationships be sweeten. May the experiences be sweeten. May the work space be sweeten. May the finances be sweeten. May the health be sweeten. May the family be sweeten. May the children be sweeten. May the wounds be sweeten. May the hearts be sweeten. May the minds be sweeten. May the work be sweeten.
(1:34) Mama Cholawenge, stand on behalf of the people. May the work continue, may the work be worthwhile, may the work be fast! Hey!
(1:43) Ache-ba-ache! Ache-ba-ache! Ache-ba-ache! [Rhythmic drumming and instruments swell]
Exhibition participants engage with the interactive Liberation Altar by writing down petitions on biodegradable paper.
“I liberate myself from…”
As an exhibition closing, Sharifa B. releases fruits, flowers, and written petitions from the Liberation Altar to the river in ritual. Energetic cleanings are performed for those present.
Community joins in ceremony.