There Were 12 of Us is a live sonic-performance lecture on Black grief and temporalities. Using select works from the “Meno avilys” Cinematheque’s archive, 𝗼𝗸𝗰𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗰𝗲 explores the Black somatic body when faced with normative conventions of Western (European) temporal constructs. Such experiences as isolation, ostracisation and racism generate moments of crisis that shift the body’s response to linear time. okcandice proposes that sound can help us examine Black time geographies and, in turn, allow Black people to functionally and socially exist in a new time/space of their own making.
“Black temporalities” is a concept often used by okcandice in her work. It is an academic term that describes the experience of time among Black people. This notion challenges the Western linear understanding of time. “Black temporalities” explores how traumatic historical experiences, such as slavery and racism, create a unique perception of time that is not linear but cyclical — the traumas of the past continue to affect the present. This postcolonial line of thought emphasizes that the Western notion of time is based on the idea of progress, yet this progress was achieved at the expense of Black suffering.
The performance-lecture references “Black Temporality in Times of Crisis” by Badia Ahad and Habiba Ibrahim (2022), “On that demon time: Black time geographies of reimagining, recovering, and resisting” by DeWitt King (2024) and “Counting Braids,” a 2002 video work by Lithuanian artist Laura Stasiulytė.
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗲. 𝗥𝗲𝗴𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝘀 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆.
Registration form: https://forms.gle/DnTsJm8M6tXRN1GL6
𝗔𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝘀𝘁: okcandice / sonic seamstress is an artist-curator, writer and musician living and working in Birmingham, UK. Their practice is concerned with methodologies of grief, Black audio-visual archives and uses of the sonic in civic space. okcandice hosts the monthly radio shows Bedtime Stories (Cashmere Radio) and Must Be The Music (Refuge Worldwide). They are also the founder-director of Bedtime Stories; a sonic practice studio championing experiments in sound and oral heritage.
Other works from Cinematheque’s archive referenced in the performance:
“Alone”, Audrius Stonys, 2001
“Scratched Pictures”, Tomas Andrijauskas, 1989
“Maybe Thom, Maybe Not”, Tomas Andrijauskas, 1999
“A Local”, Diana and Kornelijus Matuzevičiai, 2001
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This event is part of the Meno Avilys’ Cinematheque event series, curated by Ona Kotryna Dikavičiūtė and Gerda Paliušytė.
Cinematheque event series is a continuous project of “Meno Avilys”, during which Lithuanian and foreign artists, curators, and researchers are invited to explore the physical and virtual archive of the restored films and video art of the Cinematheque. The curatorial research is presented to the audiences of “Meno Avilys” via guest-curated programmes of moving pictures, public talks, commissioned texts, and literature recommendations.
𝗢𝗿𝗴𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘀𝗲𝗿: „Meno avilys“
𝗦𝗽𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗼𝗿𝘀: Lietuvos kultūros taryba, Vilniaus miesto savivaldybė, Lietuvos kino centras
𝗗𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗲𝗿: Mindaugas Gavrilovas (Studio Cryo)