Afrodiasporic Art in Buenos Aires by Kukily Colective

A few months ago I shared the text ¨Who am I?¨ that I wrote when I was part of the first performance of “Negra, Negra, Negra Soy” by the Kukily Colectivo. That was a direct and nonstop passage outside my comfort zone. This was part of a set of writings that I have but I never dare to publish. The interview format that I have been using makes everything much easier, here I demand others to open up.

Last weekend Kukily returned with this performance, this time with more women and on a much larger stage. I wanted to keep things to myself this time and I wanted to enjoy it as a spectator. See them, listen to them, feel them, my Afro-descendant pals living in Argentina. I say as a spectator, but in reality, it was something more like “intrusion. I arrived very early because I wanted to be there to document and feel with them those nerves that are always before a presentation, and then be able to write these little words that you are reading now, although I know that they will never be enough to describe what was experienced at the Heraldo Conti Cultural Center.

First thing first, what is Kukily? Okay. Kukily (pronounced coo-clé), is an international feminist art collective created and directed by four Afro-descendant women from different residences, nationalities and artistic practices. Together they work performances, installations, audiovisuals and they also create spaces to collaborate with other artists and members of our community, such as events, political-artistic conferences, and others.

The name always seemed curious to me, so I asked them to explain a little more:

By vainas de la vida and #afrohunting I was found by these incredible women who present themselves like this:

Colleen Ndemeh Fitzgerald. I am of American and Liberian origin. I lived for the last 5 years in Buenos Aires and now I am going to live and create in New York. I am many things. Dance artist and performing arts. Activist. Curator Cultural lock Educator. All my work focuses on the African diaspora and particularly the experiences of black women.

Julia Cohen Ribeiro. I identify myself as Brazilian, Argentine, Afro-Brazilian and Afro-Jewish. I studied Image and Sound Design at the UBA. I write. I am a feminist activist in La Ría and an Afrofeminist activist. I believe that the meaning of everything I do is always political.

Lina Lasso. I was born in Colombia and in now I am in the current search and reconstruction of my afro diaspora. I am a performing arts artist and anti-racist feminist activist. My research, doing and artistic drive expresses it in different artistic media where I dialogue my intersectionality.

Jasmin Sanchez. I am an Afro-Brazilian actress, researcher, and producer of theatrical, performance and audiovisual art. I am interested in the projects that I develop working the power of the black woman in all its diversity.

When I arrived at the place I met Lina, who was accommodating huge green leaves of Monsteras that made a nice contrast with her beautiful blond hair that I complimented her as soon as I saw her. I looked to the other side and there I saw Julia, she was sitting on the floor like a girl, cutting and gluing on a beautiful bronze paper the writings of each of the women to present. I looked ahead and there were them, the 20 women who were summoned by Kukily for ¨Negra, Negra, Negra Soy¨, a performance installation with several layers of content. A scene that represents a kind of oasis or a non-place to be inhabited by the experiences that the bodies of Afro-descendant women go through. In the construction of this space, they told their truths, personal experiences, ideas, and desires, many with their texts, others with the authorship of great icons such as Maya Angelou or Victoria Santa Cruz.

Women from Argentina, Venezuela, Cuba, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, United States, Uruguay, and Haiti were the protagonists on this beautiful afternoon that we spent at the Haroldo Conti Cultural Center. Kukily also summoned photographers, camerawoman, scenographers, journalists and a blogger (which would be me). An art event made 100% by women with whom I identify in Buenos Aires. Different accents, different languages, different skin tones, different types of hair, but all with that ancestral legacy that characterizes us all : ¨Negras, Negras, Negras Somos.¨

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