You Hide Me and Matata

The Gropius Bau is currently hosting a solo exhibition by artist and choreographer Ligia Lewis. Lewis understands choreography as the movement of ideas through bodies, which she meticulously designs, develops, and stages, as well as a political act against representation-based racism and the silencing of Black voices. In November, Lewis will curate Spätschicht, the Gropius Bau's interdisciplinary live program. As part of this, Arsenal will present two short films: Through a ruse, Nii Kwate Owoo gained access to the British Museum's underground depots, where he filmed valuable African artifacts stored there. The result was YOU HIDE ME (Ghana 1970). Almost 40 years later, Congolese filmmaker Petna Ndaliko Katondolo shot MATATA (2019). A photo shoot, in which a model is dressed to replicate a photograph taken during King Leopold II's brutal reign of Congo, takes an unexpected turn. Told through dance, the film is led by rhythm and color away from the prescribed representation of Africa toward a new future. (Stefanie Schulte Strathaus)

Films:
You Hide Me Nii Kwate Owoo Ghana 1970 DCP Engl. OV 17 min.
Matata Petna Ndaliko Katondolo Kongo/USA/NL 2019 DCP without dialogue 37 min.