Acclaimed artist Fahamu Pecou unveiled “PRAISE SONGS”–his first collection of 2020–during the Montresso Foundation’s showcase of the Jardin Rouge Artists In Residence program.
The exhibit was presented in partnership with Backslash Gallery as part of the 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair in Marrakech, Morocco.
Created over the course of the six-week residency, PRAISE SONGS is a collection of four large scale canvases and two large format drawings on paper, which center the boombox as a sacred instrument.
Presenting the classic Hip-Hop icon as the “new age drum,” Pecou alludes to the deeper spiritual and cultural links between Hip-Hop and more traditional forms of African praise songs and ritual music.
The 6 new pieces created at Jardin Rouge use color and costume to syncretize Hip-Hop culture and Orisha worship, specifically the Orishas Shango and Osun–both expressions of the power, majesty, and magic of music and dance.
“As sons and daughters of Africa we have always been equipped with ancient knowledge – answers to life’s most complex riddles and contradictions,” Pecou explained. “These strategies for life, death, love, war… survival, are inscribed within our very DNA.
These codes are announced in the rhythms of drums. They can be felt in the visceral harmonies of our collective voices in song and chant. They are articulated in the movement of our feet and hips. Regardless of its form–a tribal drum circle, a Gospel choir, a jazz trio, a funk band, a rap cypher–the language of us, of who we are, and who we can become has informed and entertained us.
It remains our sacred medicine and at other times, soul food. This code has been our comforter and inspiration, a muse. We call it music. It is a sacred art; the thread that links us across space both physical and cultural. It is a bridge that spans across time.”
For more about Fahamu Pecou and his empowering movement, click here.
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