New poetry from Kel Matsena lit up Swansea's National Waterfront Museum in memory of George Floyd.
In response to the UK Government's 'Race Report' and to reflect on the one-year anniversary of the murder of George Floyd, Welsh-Zimbabwean artist Kel Matsena has teamed up with Lighting Designer Ryan Joseph Stafford to project two poems onto the front of the museum from dusk until midnight 24 - 26 May.
The work was also livestreamed on 25 May and you can watch the full recording here.
"Over the summer of 2020, many commitments were made by individuals and organisations to confront and eradicate systemic racism. However, one year later it seems as if the support for the Black Lives Matter movement has faded away, as society has slipped back into the cycle of indifference towards injustice. There is an outcry for things to return “back to normal” instead of taking the opportunity to learn, change and grow. In less than a year we’ve seen a return to complacency and a sense of apathy towards untangling the knots that come with 400 years of oppression." - Kel Matsena & Ryan Joseph Stafford
Watch the BBC coverage:
"‘Are You Numb Yet?’ and ‘Thank You’ are an outcry to stop the vicious cycle of segregation and systemic racism that continues to colour the way we live our lives generation after generation. Apathy and false change are challenged in these two works in the hopes that we’ll all wake from dreams of feigned freedom. The works are inspired by my experiences as a black man in post-colonial white Britain. A part of the ongoing revolution”. - Matsena
Photo credit: Alex Hermon
We are really proud to be supporting these brilliant artists in creating a vital response to the Race Report.
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