Abstract:
In this documentary, Marthe Djilo Kamga takes us along as she engages in fruitful conversations with four other African female artists who, like her, know exile as well as how necessary it is to transmit to younger generations what they have learned as their multiple identities have evolved and fused. The original score that accompanies the voices of these three generations of women is an active part of the adventure, a witness for the future. The conversations are connected by key themes of cultural heritage, historical memory and how images shape personal and collective memories. Vibrancy of Silence: A Discussion with My Sisters is the first installment of Frieda Ekotto’s visual research project Vibrancy of Silence: Archiving the Images and Cultural Production of Sub-Saharan African Women on African women as the unsung heroines of artistic and cultural production. Indeed, their immense cultural and creative contributions remain underrepresented and inexplicably invisible. She is resolved to affirm and archive her own story and thus participate in a rereading of the “Colonial Library” with new kinds of narratives by and for women