Below are some of the things that I thought captured the quintessence of 'Black is'.
My film inspiration stemmed from the illustrious piece modelled by American artist Carrie Mae Weems. One of her most iconic pieces to this date is the 'Untitled (Woman Feeding Bird) The kitchen table series from 1989-1990. The notion behind this piece was to confront identity, family and the myth of home. Furthermore, the idea of the kitchen is to reflect the centre of gravity within a home setting. It is a setting where food and nourishment come from: a safe space, a place to sit and place to have significant conversations. Concerning my film, I shot it in Palamon kitchen party room which sparked raw conversations to take place. It was here where my participants could genuinely relax and speak their mind. The film location provided a safe space where people could really dig in and find out their interpretations of the term identity and could furthermore dig deeper onto what being black meant. Additionally, through this setting, they were able to talk about other concepts which resonate with identity such as colourism, assimilation. It was through this setting where we could explore what being 'Black is.'
Bibliography
Carriemaeweems.net. n.d.Carrie Mae Weems : The Kitchen Table Series, 1990. [online] Available at: <http://carriemaeweems.net/galleries/kitchen-table.html> [Accessed 27 April 2020].