Sierra Leonean Poet & Multidisciplinary Artist Julianknxx will present his short film In A Dream We Are At Once Beautiful alongside a special performance at Art Basel’s Conversations Programme.
Julianknxx, artist, London
anaiis, musician, London
Your Gospel Team, choir, Lausanne
Sound: Paul Cousins, London
Commissioned by Switzerland Tourism.
In A Dream We Are At Once Beautiful (2022) is screened from 8pm to 10pm.
Julianknxx’s work merges his poetic practice with films and performance; he engages in a form of existential inquiry that at once seeks to find ways of expressing the ineffable realities of human experiences while examining the structures through which we live.
In casting his own practice as a ‘living archive’ or an ‘history from below’, Julianknxx draws on West African traditions of oral history to reframe how we construct both local and global perspectives. He does this through a body of work that challenges fixed ideas of identity and unravels linear Western historical and socio-political narratives, attempting to reconcile how it feels to exist primarily in liminal spaces.
In the short film In A Dream We Are At Once Beautiful, poet and multidisciplinary artist Julianknxx expands his ‘living archive’, exploring dreams as a composite of lived realities and imagined worlds. Shot across Switzerland, the film documents nature and urbanity in a series of vignettes, interwoven with words from his poem, As Long As The Sun Lasts – questioning whose dreams we attempt to live, and whether it’s possible to dream on our own terms.
Julianknxx challenges the idea of fixed identities, exploring the role oral history plays in reframing West African traditions. Through the themes of In A Dream We Are At Once Beautiful, he continues his observations into perspective, studying how the ways in which it manifests can, in turn, inform our personal narratives.
In an interview with Nowness he explains his inspiration from the work started from the questions he asked himself.
“I was asking myself, “What does it look like to exist in these spaces without feeling like an outsider?” – what this land can tell us about the Black diaspora, and how I see the world I want to be in. So, I dreamt up my version of it. In A Dream We Are At Once Beautiful examines the line between what is already there, and our ability to dream on our own terms – playing with the integration of dreams, nature, and urbanity in these cities. To leave the viewer to question whether the film’s cast are subjects or protagonists as they float, stand, and move through the landscape. Showing that we are present in these spaces, and we make our mark too.“
A local choir and the French-Senegalese singer anaiis accompany multidisciplinary artist Julianknxx as he presents his short film In A Dream We Are At Once Beautiful (2022).
Growing up between continents, French-Senegalese artist anaiis, moved from Toulouse to Dublin and Dakar before settling in Oakland, California. She studied at Tisch School of Arts in New York before relocating to London to pursue her music career. anaiis’s storytelling showcases a complex and personal journey, her work is self-reflective and created in pursuit of a collective healing. She’s collaborated with artists such as JulianKnxx, Chronixx, Julien Creuzet, and commissioned work for renowned institutions such as White Cube Gallery, V&A museum and more. Her debut album, this is no longer a dream (2021) explores themes of isolation and disillusionment and forms an inner conversation that flourishes from angst and neurosis to self-affirmation and hope.
Founded in 2011 in Moudon, Switzerland, Your Gospel Team is a group of professional artists specializing in authentic, Afro-American-style gospel. Of African and Caribbean origins, the singers of Your Gospel Team are all high-level soloists. Your Gospel Team has been chosen to accompany several high-profile international musicians including Ledisi, Jeremy Jordan and Tayla Parx amongst others.
Art Basel Conversations | Sonic Performance: Julianknxx, Whose Dream is This?
Thursday 15th June, 7-8PM Art Basel, 10 Messeplatz, Basel, Switzerland
RSVP via Art Basel HERE (FREE)
