Art Office

What does it mean to be human? Lucie Draai considers this question in her art practice, led by black feminist thinkers such as Sylvia Wynter, Denise Ferreira da Silva and Saidiya Hartman. They argue that the struggles of contemporary existence are determined by a racialized arrangement of man. Elaborating on this, Draai introduces the figure of the adoptee of color, in whose life cultural memory is often absent. In the search for hope and healing, she explores the power of speculative absence by creating new stories and embodied experiences. It is a form of critical fabulation, a literary and fictional storytelling technique that Saidiya Hartman has created to accommodate unheard voices, especially those of enslaved people. Draai connects this method with collagraphy (an engraving technique) and performance, which ties in with her need to develop new forms of existence for adopted people of color. The advisory committee sees this application as a credible proposal from a solid artist with interesting performative aspects. The expectation is that the sources of inspiration will yield a lot of new material, energy, new signature and potential.

Image: Belkis Ayón, Sin título (Sikán con chivo), 1993